ODD 


LIBRARY 


1-1- 


'cf^ 


e*^ 


Copyright  1908 

by 

SUMNER   GILBERT  WOOD 


Contents 


Chapter  I. 
Pixley's  Tavern, 1 

Chapter  II. 
The  Corner  Tavern:   The  Hustons  and  Peases,  .         19 

Chapter  III. 
The    Corner    Tavern:    The   Ashmuns   and   their 

Successors, 34 

Chapter  IV. 
The  old  Post  Road:  or,  The  Berkshire  Road,      .       68 

Chapter  V. 
The  Street  and  The  Old  Aristocracy,  ....         98 

Chapter  VI. 
The  New  Aristocracy  and  The  New  Village,.      .       147 

Chapter  VII. 
Beech  Hill, 186 

Chapter  VIII. 
Social  Functions  of  The  Tavern, 216 

Chapter  IX. 
Turnpike  Stories, 252 

Chapter  X. 
The  Westfield  River  Branches  and  The  East  Part     269 

Chapter  XI. 
The  North  End, 286 

Chapter  XII. 
Tales  of  Stage-coach  and  Wayside  Inn,    .      .      .       307 


JList  of  Illiistratiofis 

Turnpike  of  l?>29 :  ''Number  Three"    Frontispiece 

Opposite  page 

Pixley's  Farm, 8 

Blair  Pond, 16 

Congregational  Meeting  House,  ...      24 

^'Albany  Road,"  looking  up  to  School  House,   .      .      24 

Barn  of  Corner  Tavern — Ashmiin's 32 

The  Hon.  George  Ashmun, 36 

The ''New  Hotel"  of  Rtissell  Sage,  Esq.,    ...      52 

House  of  Reuben  Boise,  Esq., 68 

Front  Stairway  atid  Parlor  Cupboard,  .  .  .72 
Berkshire  Road,  at  foot  of  Step  Hill,      ....      80 

Mile-stone  on  Berkshire  Road, 84 

Benjamin  Scott's  Tavern, 88 

Walnut  Hill, 88 

Parlor  Fireplace,  Scott's  Tavern, 96 

Old  Parade  Ground — The  Ten-acre  Lot,    .      .      .100 

The  Town  Street, 104 

Capt.  Abner  Pease's  Tavern,  112 

The  Business  Centre  of  the  New  Village,   .  .112 

The  Samuel  Boies  Tavern, 116 

Site  of  Episcopal  Church  and  Job  Almy's,  .  .120 
Site  of  Deacon  William  Boise's  Store,  .  .  .128 
Tavern  Sign  and  old  Hatch  Tavern,      ....    148 

East  End  of  New  Village, 164 

House  of  John  Boies,  etc.,  184 

At  the   Gore, 184 

Road  on  Beech  Hill, 192 

House  of  Jedediah  Smith,  Esq., 196 


Deacon  Robert  Lloyd's  House, 200 

Front  Stairway,  Dea.  Lloyd's  House,    .      .      .  208 

Kitchen  Fireplace, 212 

Birch  Hill 248 

Gate  House, 256 

Tavern  at  I\orth  Blandford 256 

Turnpike  of  \%29\     Meadow,     .      .            ...  260 

Turnpike  of  1829.-     Long  Hill, 264 

Falley's  Cross  Roads — Huntington,       .      .      .      .272 

''East  Part"  Tavern — P arks' s, 276 

Well-sweep, 280 

Harroun-Sinnet- Bruce  Tavern, 288 

Harroun-Sinnet-Bruce  Bar-room, 288 

Taggart  Tavern, 292 

Capt.  Abner  Gibbs's  House, 292 

First  House  of  Reuben  Boise,  Esq.,       ....  296 

Harroun-Sinnet-Bruce  Tavern 296 

Cellar  Stairs,  Taggart  Tavern,         304 

The  Baird  Tavern, 308 

Bar-room, .      .      .      .  308 

The  Green-woods  Road, 312 

"County  Road  from  James  Beards  to  Barrington, 

Road,"     .      .     ' 320 

Watson  E.  Boise, 324 

Little  River,           328 

Westfield  River  at  Russell,  .      .      .         Appendix 

House  at  Northerly  End  o^    Pixley's    Farm, 

Appendix 


"(IIiP  lirrtlirnt  .  ♦  .  .  ttxmt  to  ntrrl  its  jib  far 
as  (Hln?  0i(jirkvt  of  Apptus  attii  (51|f  (El^rr^ 
©aurnis;  lulium  iul|nt  JIaul  sam.  Ijp  tljaukrli 
dob,  m\h  took  roitragr." 

ai|r  ArtH  nf  (Tljr  ApostlrH. 


I .  The  portion  printed  iii  block 
is  a  facsimile,  reduced  to  four- 
fifths,  of  an  ancient  plan  to  which 
is  appended  this  statement:  "THIS 
PLAN  DESCRIBES  the  township 
of  BLANDFORD.  In  the  County 
of  Hampshire,  Lying  upon  Sheffield 
Road .  It  also  describes  the  several 
Lots  Belonging  to  the  chief  Pro- 
prietors (as  is  Represented  by  the 
first  Letter  of  their  Name)  and  their 
Number  And  also  the  subdivision  of 
the  Settlers  part.  And  ten  Acres  for 
the  Church  laid  out  between  the  Lots 
N".  9  West  and  N'.  44  East  in  the 
first  Division  of  Said  Settlers  Lots. 
And  also  the  Streams  in  s"*  Township 
Surveyed  partly  by  M'  Roger  New- 
bury of  Windsor  in  Connecticut  Sur- 
vey' and  partly  by  John  Huston  Sur- 
vey'. It  was  Surveyed  in  the  Year 
1742.  .  .  as  will  Appear  by  the  Original 
as  this  is  taken  from  a  true  copy  Drawn 
by  David  King —  and  now  recopied  at 
Westfield  April  19"*  1767  by 

BARNETT   HARKIN."' 
L.  represents  Christopher  Jacob 

B.  "         Francis  Brinley. 

F-  ''        John  Foye.  I    g  \ 

H. 


ti! 


OF    BLANDFC 

The  rectangle  of  smaller  divisions 
represents  the  home  lots;  the  left  double 
tier,  the  first  division,  itself  divided 
by  the  town  street;  the  right  double 
tier,  the  second  division,  also  divided 
by    the  second  division  street. 

The  dotted  line  represents  the  Shef- 
field, Housatonic.  Great  Barrington.  or 
Albany,  road,  a  small  section  of  it  now 
being    the    village    street. 

II.   The   portion   printed   in    red- 

Roads  are  indicated  thus  — x — 
and  include  both  ancient  and  modem, 
including  some  now  abandoned.  Many 
local  roads  are  omitted,  to  avoid  con- 
fusion. Minor  inaccuracies  are  neces- 
sitated by  inaccuracies  of  the  facsimile, 
but  the  general  scheme  is  right.  The 
_      -      .      ^j..      . 

'  the  brook  having  been  i 
to  the  southerly. 

The     road    indicated     thus - 

near    Pixley's    is    conjectural    line    of 
earliest  road  to  the  westward. 

The  broken  Ufte in  the  north- 
east comer  of  the  map  indicates  the 
section  set  off  to  Huntington  about 
the  middle  of  the  last  century. 
Poiuls.  B.  p.,  Blair  Pond,  originally 
Twenly-mjle  pond. 

C.  P.,  Cochran,  or  Second  division 


ti'^V 


L.  P.,  Long  pond 


N 

M- 

P.,  North  Meadow  pond. 

Brookt:        B 

The  Branch;    now.     Peebles' 

B 

H 

,  Borden   brook,  originally, 

Pceble. 

•  V 

ook. 

Bedlam  brook 

F. 

B 

Freeland  brook. 

Gibbs  Brook. 

N 

M 

B.,  North  Meadow   brook. 

Pond  brook. 

Taverns,eu.A 

Abner  Gibbs  House. 

T 

Baird  Tavern. 

R 

1 

.,    First    house  of    Reuben 

p 

T.,  Reuben  Boise  Tavern. 

C. 

T 

Comer  tavern. 

H 

S. 

B  .   Harroun-Sinnet-  Bruce 

T. 

H. 

Timothy  Hatch  (etcilavern 

J. 

1'  . 

John  Lloyd  tavern. 

Robert  Lloyd  bouse. 

P 

T 

Pixley's  tavern. 
Scott's   tavern. 

Jedediah    Smith's    house. 

Taggart  Tavern. 

Other  tavci 

ms 

are  sufficiently  indicated  in 

^* 

J. 

B 

ferod  bats. 

R.,  Falley's  cross  roads. 

X 

# 


Foreword 

This  little  book  is  a  sort  of  by-product.  For  five 
years  past,  or  more,  I  have  been  engaged  in  the  study 
of  the  history  of  this  town,  having  made  minute 
investigation  of  the  town  and  church  records,  then 
of  a  couple  of  thousand  or  so  of  deeds  in  the  Spring- 
field registry,  supplementing  this  by  a  like  study  of 
other  material  in  both  Springfield  and  Northampton, 
such  as  inventories,  records  of  license,  of  county 
roads,  etc.  Little  by  little,  as  my  friends  became 
interested  in  my  work,  through  their  kindness  I 
received  access  to  other  documents,  as  rare  as  they 
are  valuable  to  our  local  history.  In  writing  up 
this  material  it  was  my  intent  to  devote  two  or 
three  chapters  to  the  tavern  features,  which  pres- 
ently expanded  to  such  proportions  as  to  demand 
much  more  space.  In  no  small  degree  the  tavern 
and  turnpike  story  shapes  and  describes  the  social 
development  of  the  town,  so  rich  in  fact  and  incident. 
So  I  concluded  to  test  my  ability  to  interest  the 
natural  constituency  to  which  Blandford  history 
might  appeal,  by  the  publication  of  this  monograph, 
before  running  the  larger  risk  always  attaching  to 
the  publication  of  the  conventional  local  history, 
the  circulation  of  which  is  necessarily  narrow. 
Should  this  little  volume  meet  with  such  response 
as  to  warrant  the  venture,  it  is  my  intent  to  follow 
it  by  another,  and  larger,  on  "The  Homes  and 
Habits  of  Ancient  Blandford." 


The  spelling  of  certain  proper  names  in  this  book 
may  seem  to  be  peculiar;  but  so  was  the  spelling 
of  the  fathers.  Carnachan,  Carnahan,  Cannon  are 
the  same  name;  so  are  Loughead  and  Lloyd;  so 
are  Boies,  Boise,  Boys,  Boice,  etc.  They  so  occur 
in  the  records.  Beard  and  Baird  are  interchange- 
able. I  have  conformed  my  custom  to  theirs,  and 
am  contemporary  with  them.  I  have  even  followed 
this  habit  in  certain  respects  to  the  spelling  of  the 
names  of  the  places.  If  I  am  open  to  criticism  in 
this  particular,  it  is  a  small  matter.  I  have  tried 
to  live  with  these  people  and  to  think  as  they  did. 

I  am  under  lasting  bonds  of  gratitude  to  many 
helpers;  to  the  town  clerk  of  Blandford,  Mr.  Enos 
W.  Boise,  for  continuous  courtesies,  documentary 
material  and  traditions;  to  Mr.  William  J.  Keep, 
of  Detroit,  Mich.,  for  reminiscences  of  Rev.  John 
Keep;  to  Miss  Cornelia  Warren,  of  Waltham,  for 
similar  material  concerning  Rev.  Dr.  Dorus  Clarke; 
to  Mr.  H.  L.  Butler,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  for  in- 
valuable memories  of  Rev.  Daniel  Butler;  to  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  H.  Morton,  of  Springfield,  for  voluminous 
and  valuable  biographical  material  concerning  the 
Ashmuns;  to  Mr.  Enos  Boise  Lewis,  for  a  facsimile 
of  an  ancient  plan  of  the  town;  to  Mrs.  Bliss  and  Miss 
Harriet  C  Bliss,  of  New  Britain,  Conn.,  for  illumin- 
ating incidents; to  Miss  Lauraette  Smith,  for  price- 
less documents,  particularly  the  ledgers  of  Col. 
Samuel  Sloper  and  Jedediah  Smith,  Esq.,  and  for 
the  court  docket  of  the  latter,  as  well  as  for  mis- 
cellaneous matter;  to  Mr.  Andrew  Soule  of  Otis  for 
assistance  in  locating  Scott's  tavern:  also  for  tradi- 
tion and  story  to  the  following;  Mrs.  Julia  Hamilton, 


Mrs.  Susan  B.  Nye,  Messrs.  H.  A.  and  H.  L.  Blair, 
A.  L.  Stewart,  Asa  Culver,  C.  R.  Miner,  W.  D. 
Healy,  Lester  Moore,  Mrs.  Barber  Nye,  Miss  Hattie 
Emmons,  Mrs.  H.  B.  Sperry,  Rev.  Wm.  A.  Lloyd  of 
Chicago,  and  to  the  late  Hon.  Samuel  Knox  and 
Mr.    Samuel   A.    Bartholomew. 

By  no  means  least  of  all  has  assistance  been  given 
me  by  my  wife,  in  literary  criticism,  in  preparation 
of  the  map,  in  making  the  cover  design,  and  in  sym- 
pathetic co-operation  with  me  in  all  my  work. 

Besides,  I  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  many  house- 
holders and  good  wives  who  have  repeatedly  thrown 
open  their  house  to  my  presence  and  my  camera  for 
interior  views,  and  for  other  courtesies.  Whatever 
may  be  the  fate  of  this  book,  these  many  personal 
friendlinesses  will  ever  remain  with  me  as  a  memory 
of  appreciation. 

A  large  mass  of  literature  on  which  I  have  depended 
has  been  freely  quoted  or  referred  to  in  the  text, 
and  is  fully  acknowledged  in  foot-notes,  passun. 


^ ^ ^  II 

% 

m 

1 

ii 

u 

\ 

— > 

y^ 

k 

1 

Chapter  One 

Pixley's    Tavern 

THE  subject  of  road-making  is  interest- 
ing or  dry  according  to  one's  point  of 
view.  The  surveyor's  account  is  apt 
not  to  be  thrilling.  But  when  one  consid- 
ers that  a  highway  is  a  not  unimportant 
factor  in  the  tide  of  human  life,  that  over  its 
surface  vibrates  to  and  fro  the  commerce  of 
a  people,  that  by  means  of  it  fortunes  are 
made  and  unmade,  that  human  hearts  throb 
with  joy  or  sink  down  in  gloom  as  they 
traverse  its  length,  that  wedding  companies 
and  funeral  processions  pass  along  it  as  in 
Cana  and  Nain,  that  it  has  taken  its  full 
share  in  the  development  of  the  home  and 
of  the  State,  as  men  have  studied  and  toiled 
and  sweat  upon  it  in  the  subjugation  of 
nature  so  inviting  yet  so  unwilling  and 
stubborn,    the   roadway   becomes    the   stage 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

for  a  drama.  Long  after,  when  you  behold 
this  same  highway  become  grass- grown  and 
covered  with  a  mantle  of  forest  foliage,  as 
year  by  year  it  has  dropped  baclavard  into 
primeval  silence  and  oblivion,  until  only  by 
accident  or  painful  searching  you  discover 
it  at  all,  its  once  hospitable  and  cheery  asso- 
ciates—the homes  of  the  people — having 
fallen  silently  into  so  many  cellars  over 
which  lilac  and  tansy  or  greensward  and 
maple  have  gently  erected  nature's  living 
memorial,  or  mayhap  a  Lombard}^  poplar  or 
two  is  watching  in  stately  silence  over  the 
dead  and  gone,  the  road  means  much.  Just 
as  much  it  means  when  this  humanity  is  in 
the  midst  of  hubbub  and  dust.  The  road 
whether  old  or  new,  has  its  still  living  interest. 
A  tavern  is  nothing  except  as  it  becomes 
vocal  with  the  tongues  of  men,  and  a  road 
is  eloquent  when  human  voices  speak  along 
it  and  human  hearts  find  the  coursings  of 
life  through  it  as  though  an  artery. 

In  the  old  town  of  Blandford,  originally 
known  as  Glasgow,  New  Glasgow,  or  Glascow 
Lands,*  the  earnest  student  of   its  history, 

*  Usually  spelled,  in  original  daiutijnts,  Glascow  or  Glasgo  Lands. 


PIXLEY'S  TAVERN 

assisted  b}^  here  and  there  an  oldest  inhab- 
itant and  now  and  then  a  musty  old  deed, 
discovers  abandoned  roads  everywhere. 
When  one  newly  comes  to  his  ken,  a  still 
profounder  reverence  has  he  for  the  struggle 
for  life  and  character  of  his  forbears — and 
for  himself  and  his  contemporaries,  whose 
story  the  scribe  with  the  inkhorn  by  his  side 
has  not  yet  completed. 

'  This  Blandford  of  the  olden  time  occupied 
a  position  analogous  to  that  of  the  modern 
busy  railroad  town.  Alike  in  peace  and  war 
important  thoroughfares  crossed  its  hilltops 
and  ravines.  From  the  town's  infancy,  until 
the  railroad,  hugging  the  streams  of  the 
valley,  left  it  in  attenuating  loneliness.  Bland- 
ford  was  listed  in  the  almanacs  of  the  day 
on  the  post  and  stage  routes  as  an  important 
station.  Tavern  and  turnpike  in  Blandford 
yield  a  rich  chapter  of  fact  and  event  to  the 
local  historian,  a  chapter  flavored  with  an 
element  of  cosmopolitanism  not  to  be  ignored. 
The  stranger,  even  the  modern  resident, 
finds  it  not  easy  to  realize  Vv^hat  bustle  of 
travel  and  traffic  there  used  to  be  over  these 
now  quiet  roads, 

3 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

"A  region  of  repose  it  seems, 
A  place  of  slumber  and  of  dreams, 
Remote  among  the  wooded  hills." 
But  there  is  something  to  remember,  some- 
thing to  glean  out  of  the  remote  past,  grow- 
ing remoter  as  one  and  another  octogenarian 
goes   on   into   the   silent    land,    with   all   the 
wealth  of  his  memories  of  a  day,  the  vanish- 
ing ghosts  of  which  he  has  been  able  to  call 
up  from  the  slumbering  years.     The  wayside 
inn, 

"Built  in  the  old  Colonial  day. 
When  men  lived  in  a  grander  way, 
With  ampler  hospitality," 
is  with  us  still,  here   and  there  standing,  or, 
quite  as  likely,  a   crumbling  ruin,  mute  and 
eloquent  witness  of  days  almost  forgotten. 

For  good  or  ill — one  may  say,  for  good  and 
ill — the  tavern  has  been  a  fundamental  in- 
stitution in  the  development  of  New  England 
society.  It  should  be  classed  perhaps  third 
with  the  church  and  the  school  as  formative 
and  expressive  of  the  life  and  institutions  of 
the  people;  necessarily  so,  since  New  Eng- 
landers,  with  all  their  strictness  and  with  all 
their    inquisitorial    fashions,    were    a    social 


PIXLEY'S  TAVERN 

folk,  having  to  do  not  alone  with  each  other 
but  with  the  whole  world.  The  tavern  was 
a  chief  intermediary,  and  the  tavern-keeper 
"lived  by  the  side  of  the  road." 

Before  ever  there  was  a  settlement  in 
Glasgow  there  was  a  tavern.  The  wilderness 
was  becoming  surveyed  and  mapped.  The 
adventurer  was  making  lonely  marches  across 
country,  or  laboriously  marking  out  bound- 
aries with  a  trusty  surveyor, — two  prophetic 
personages,  heralds  of  the  civic  life  that  was 
to  be.  Meanwhile  the  proprietor  aforesaid 
was  crossing  and  re-crossing  the  length  of  the 
State  on  horse-back  in  order  to  induce  the 
Great  and  General  Court  to  lend  the  needed 
authority  for  the  consummation  of  the  enter- 
prise. 

The  name  of  Glasgow  had  been  preceded 
by  the  descriptive  lingo,  "Suffield  Equivalent 
Lands,"  a  phrase  derived  from  that  stage  of 
real  estate  transition  intervening  between 
provincial  ownership  and  the  proprietorship 
which  contemplated  the  im^m^ediate  creation 
of  the  town.  There  were  boundary  disputes 
between  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  and 
similar    differences    between    towns,    all    of 

S 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

which  found  their  adjustment  by  the  trading 
of  lands,  until  at  last  Christopher  Jacob 
Lawton,  a  resident  of  Suffield,  attorney  and 
large  land  speculator,  became  leading  pro- 
prietor of  the  aforesaid  tract.  He  shortly 
shared  this  proprietorship  with  three  others 
of  kindred  spirit. 

It  was  in  the  early  thirties  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Springfield  and  Westfield  were 
thriving  towns,  and  to  the  westward  lay  the 
district  or  tract  known  as  Houssatanick,  or 
Housatunnock.  Here  Lawton  had  interests 
as  well  as  in  Suffield  Equivalent.  Naturally 
he  would  want  to  establish  communication 
between  the  separated  estates,  a  commend- 
able purpose  running  parallel  with  the  desire 
of  the  Province,  which  was  anxious  to  settle 
and  develop  into  towns  all  this  outlying 
region.  So  Lawton  asked  the  Legislature  for 
a  grant  of  five  hundred  acres  of  Province  land 
along  this  wa}^  for  the  purposes  of  a  tavern. 
That  august  body  replied  as  follows: 

Order  granting  a  plat  of  300  Acres  of 
Land  to  Christopher  Jacob  Lawton.* 

*  Acts  and  Resolves  of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  B  ay 
Vol.  11,  pp.  684  and  685 
Chap.  83  Resolves  of  1732-33 


PIXLEY'S  TAVERN 

"A  Petition  of  Cornelius*  Jacob  Laugh  ton 
of  Suffield  Setting  forth  the  extream  badness 
of  that  part  of  the  Road  from  Westfeild  to 
Albany  that  lies  between  Westfeild  &  Housa- 
tannuck  &  the  great  Hardship  that  Travellers 
are  forced  to  Suffer  especially  in  the  Winter 
Season  there  being  no  House  for  the  Space 
of  forty  Miles  praying  the  Grant  of  Five 
Hundred  Acres  of  province  Land  upon  Con- 
dition that  he  build  &  keep  a  House  of 
Entertainm'  near  Midway  on  the  s'^  Road. 
Read  &  in  Answer  to  this  Petition 

"Ordered  that  the  prayer  of  the  Petition'' 
be  so  far  granted  as  that  the  Petition''  have 
Leave  by  a  Survey''  &  Chainmen  on  Oath  to 
survey  &  lay  out  three  Hundred  Acres  of 
Land  in  a  regular  Form  not  less  than  fifteen 
Miles  from  one  of  the  within  mentioned 
Towns  as  the  Road  goes,  to  lay  on  s"^  Road 
as  it  is  now  used,  &  return  a  Plan  thereof  to 
this  Court  at  the  next  May  Session  for  Con- 
firmation. W^^  Grant  is  hereby  confirmed 
to  the  petition''  his  Heirs  &  Assigns  for  ever. 
He  complying  with  the  following  Conditions 
viz'  that  he  does  by  the  first  day  of  October 

*  Given  name  appears  as  Christopher  in  subsequent  legislation, 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

next  erect  &  compleatly  finish  on  s''  Land 
&  near  said  Road  a  Dwelling  House  forty  four 
feet  long,  Eighteen  feet  wide  &  eight  feet 
Post  at  least  &  also  a  Sutable  Stable  for 
Horses,  &  shall  fence  clear  &  sufficiently  stock 
with  English  Grass,  three  Acres  of  Land  by 
the  first  Day  of  Sepf  1734.  &  two  Acres 
more  each  of  the  succeeding  Years,  That  the 
Petition''  by  himself  or  some  other  sutable 
person  (who  has  a  Family)  shall  actually 
settle  &  reside  with  his  Family  on  the  Spot 
by  y^  first  Day  of  October  next  &  to  dwell 
there  for  the  Term  of  Twenty  Years  then 
next  coming  said  person  to  be  a  man  of  good 
sober  Conversation  &  such  as  the  Justices  of 
the  Court  of  General  Sessions  of  the  peace 
for  the  County  of  Hampshire  may  think  a 
proper  person  to  keep  a  publick  House  of 
Entertainm'  &  to  be  at  all  Times  provided 
with  necessaries  fit  for  the  EntertainnV  of 
Man  &  Horse  &c.  &  in  Case  of  failure  of 
any  of  the  above  particulars  the  s''  Grant  to 
revert  to  the  Province,  the  person  inhabiting 
on  s'^  Land  &  keeping  such  publick  House 
to  be  freed  from  paying  excise  for  the 
Term    of  Ten   Years   from    the   first  of  his 

8 


PIXLEY'S  TAVERN 

living  there.     [Passed   December  7]"    (1732). 

By  summer  or  fall  Lawton  had  his  "publick 
House  of  Entertainment"  in  running  order, 
though  not  yet  of  the  proportions  laid  down 
in  the  terms  of  the  General  Court.  The  court 
of  general  sessions  of  that  season,  at  North- 
ampton, bears  record:*  "Joseph  Pixley  Jun*" 
Living  on  M''  Chr  Jacob  Lawtons  Land  be- 
tween Westfield  and  Sheffield  to  be  an  Inn- 
holder  Taverner  &  Common  Victualler  at  s'^ 
Place  is  by  this  Court  admitted  and  approved 
as  a  Suitable  Person  agreeable  to  the 
order  of  the  Gen'  Court  Respecting  the  same." 

This  hint  of  the  location  of  Pixley's  tavern 
as  "between  Westfield  and  Sheffield"  is 
grim  witness  to  the  loneliness  of  this  little 
hearth-fire  lighted  in  the  midst  of  the  vast 
wilderness.  Glasgow  was  not  yet,  nor  any 
other  settlement  from  Westfield,  nine  miles 
from  the  Connecticut,  westward  to  the  Housa- 
tonic.  An  ancient  tradition  testifies!  that 
"for  several  years  it  had  no  floor  nor  chim- 
ney. A  fire  was  constantly  kept  upon  the 
ground  in  the  centre;  logs  eight  and  ten 
feet  long  were  drawn  in  by  a  horse  and  rolled 

*  Vol.  2.  p.  253. 

t  Historical  Address,  Blandford,  Sept.  21,  18S0,  by  William  H.  Gibbs,  p.  46 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

upon  the  log  heap  fire,  the  smoke  passing 
out  through  a  hole  in  the  roof."  This  little 
snatch  of  what  hospitality  the  pioneer  hos- 
telry afforded  the  hardy  traveller  of  the  period 
is  rescued  from  a  too  silent  past,  and  the  story 
lapses  for  the  most  part  into  the  unknown. 
Five  years  later  Pixley  was  still  running  the 
place  and,  Sept.  24,  1737,— two  years  after 
the  village  of  Glasgow,  four  miles  to  the 
eastward,  was  fairly  established, — he  bought 
it  of  Lawton  "for  Divers  Causes  &  Consider- 
ations   (him)   thereto  moving." 

All  trace  of  the  old  tavern  was  long  years 
ago  obliterated,  as  also  of  the  fort,  or  block- 
house, which  tradition — and  tradition  only — 
declares  to  have  been  put  up  thereabout 
during  the  wars  with  the  French  and  Indians. 
But  there  is  no  manner  of  doubt  about  the 
general  location  of  the  farm,  in  the  southwest 
part  of  the  town.*  Whatever  prestige  the 
tavern  ever  had  was  derived  from  the  patron- 
age of  wayfarers.  There  was  little  or  no 
coloring  of  local  importance  there,  albeit  the 
first  settled  minister  of  the  town  laid  hands 
upon   it.     Its   career   was    checkered.     Law- 

*  In  the  original  farm  lots,  numbered  11  and  12;  in  1S50  owned  by  Almon  J. 
Lloyd;  within  memory  of  modern  residents,  by  the  late  James  S. 
Brooks,  and  now  by  N.  C.  Julien. 

10 


PIXLEY'S  TAVERN 

ton's  dealings  with  the  Province  were  of  the 
character  of  a  shyster,  and  the  General  Court 
relieved  him  of  his  right  to  the  tavern  and 
farm,  or  whatever  title  he  still  held  to  it, 
Dec.  20,  1738.  But  through  the  intercession 
of  David  Ingersoll,  of  Westfield,  the  Legisla- 
ture, three  days  later,  gave  back  his  holding 
"Provided  he  or  they*  in  the  same  way  & 
manner  comply  with  the  conditions  of  the 
grant  to  all  intents  and  purposes  whatever 
within  one  year,  and  particularly  that  he 
build  and  finish  a  convenient  Dwelling  House 
to  stand  near  the  new  Road  at  the  North 
end  of  the  granted  premises,  for  the  accom- 
modation of  Travellers,  of  the  dimensions 
expressed  in  the  former  grants."!  It  ap- 
pears that  this  wayside  inn  was  hobbling 
along  with  tardiness  and  difficulty.  What 
use  Rev.  William  McClenachan,  who  bought 
it  in  1744 J,  could  have  made  of  it,  unless 
to  derive  income  from  its  rental,  is  hard  to 
see.  He  not  only  possessed  himself  of  the 
tavern  and  farm,  but  of  the  whole  one 
thousand  acres  of  the  two  farm  lots  in  which 

*    Heirs  or  assigns. 

t    Chap.  20,  p.  527,  Acts  and  Resolves.     One  is  tempted  to  put  the  quer>' 

as  to  what  became  of  travellers  of  dimensions  other  than    those 

expressed  in  the  Act. 
i    Springfield  Registry  of  Deeds,  Vol.  0.  p   720. 

11 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

the  tavern  farm  was  located.  This  reverend 
gentleman  kept  hold  of  the  property  after 
leaving  for  the  wars,  mortgaging  it  in  1750, 
several  years  after  his  successor  was  settled 
in  town,  to  one  Samuel  Watts,  three  years 
later  selling  it  to  a  Boston  distiller,  Zechariah 
Johonnot.  The  title  became  mixed.  Watts, 
who  got  hold  of  the  property  again,  found 
himself  obliged  to  defend  his  claim  by  suit 
against  one  Joseph  Clark,  who  also  operated 
the  tavern  and  farm  for  some  years.  There 
is  court  record  of  Clark's  license  in  1762  and 
'63.  There  is  furthermore  this  interesting 
act  of  the  Provincial  Legislature,  under  date 
of  June  15,  1762:  "A  Petition  of  Joseph 
Clark  of  Blanford — Setting  forth  That  in 
the  Year  1760  He  purchased  a  licensed  House 
and  purchased  a  barrel  of  Rum,  but  being 
sick  in  August  when  he  should  have  applied 
for  a  license,  and  his  House  lying  in  the  Road 
used  by  Soldiers  sold  the  same,  out  to  them: 
and  he  boght  the  said  Rum  of  a  Retailer  who 
had  paid  the  Duties  of  excise  thereon — 
Praying  that  he  may  be  exempted  from  the 
Penalty  of  the  Law — 

"(12th)   In  the  House  of   Representatives 

12 


PIXLEY'S  TAVERN 

Read  and  Ordered  That  the  Prayer  of  the 
Petitioner  be  so  far  granted  that  the  Petitioner 
be  discharged  from  the  Penalty  for  SeUing 
strong  Uquors  within  mentioned  so  far  as  it 
belongs  to  this  Province. 

"In  Council  Read  and  Nonconcurred." 

It  appears  that  the  bandying  about  of 
liquor  bills  from  one  house  to  the  other,  to 
be  finally  thrown  out  into  the  street,  is  an 
old  trick  of  the  Legislature. 

Clark's  troubles  were  but  beginning,  for 
the  next  year  he  was  destined  to  lose  both 
farm  and  tavern  to  the  aforesaid  Samuel 
Watts  of  Chelsea,  who  claimed  superior  title, 
and  won  judgment  to  that  effect  from  the 
court.  Clark  betook  himself  to  Granville, 
where  we  take  leave  of  him,  since  our  quest 
is  not  of  him,  but  of  the   old  caravansary. 

The  scattering  items  of  intelligence  thus 
gleaned  from  official  records  are  evidence 
that  this  first  tavern  in  Glasgow  Lands  was 
still  running,  and  that,  being  on  one  of  the 
great  thoroughfares  of  tlie  Commonwealth, 
it  was  a  station  of  importance.  In  fact,  the 
road,  or  bridle-path,  Vv^as  a  continuation  of 
the  old  Bay  path.     Armies,  or  detachments 

13 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

of  them,  passed  through  the  centre  of  the 
town,  and  four  miles  beyond  assuaged  their 
burning  thirst  at  Pixley's  tavern. 

The  road,  or  path,  on  which  Pixley's  stood, 
bulked  large  in  the  history  and  imagination 
of  the  people  of  the  Province  in  the  time  of 
our  story.  The  farm  is  described  in  one  of 
the  deeds  as  "on  the  Great  Road  leading  to 
Housatunock."  In  the  early  tovv^n  records 
this  road  is  commonly  denoted  as  "the  Road 
to  Tunak,"  or  "the  tunock  road."  In  1735 
— the  year  of  the  settlement  of  Glasgow^ — the 
path  which  had  been  opened  past  Pixley's 
was  made  a  regular  road,  such  as  it  was.  It 
"divided  the  gift  of  land  subsequently  made 
by  the  Stockbridge  Indians  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  on  the  15th  day  of  January,  in 
the  year  above  mentioned,  the  General  Court 
ordered  that  four  townships  should  be  laid 
out  upon  the  road  between  Westfield  and 
Sheffield,  contiguous  in  position,  and  either 
joining  Sheffield"  or  the  Suffield  Equivalent.* 
These  towns  were  to  be  "Six  miles  square,  to 
contain  each  sixty-three  home-lots,  laid  out 
in    compact    and    defensible    form,     one    of 

*  The  History  of  Western  Massachusetts,  by  J.  G.  Holland,  Vol.  I,  p.  169. 

14 


PIXLEY'S  TAVERN 

which  was  to  be  for  the  first  settled  minister, 
one  for  schools,  and  one  for  each  grantee, 
which  shall  draw  equal  shares  in  all  future 
divisions."*  These  townships  were  num- 
bered 1,  2,  3,  and  4.  No.  1  was  Tyringham; 
No.  2,  Partridgefield,  now  Peru,  together 
with  parts  of  Middlefield  and  Hinsdale;  No. 
3,  Sandisfield;  and  No.  4,  Becket  and  Gage- 
borough,  the  latter  now  Windsor.  "The 
present  town  of  Great  Barrington,  formed  of 
portions  of  both  the  upper  and  lower  Housa- 
tonic  townships,  was  settled  as  early  as  1730, 
and  in  1740  was  established  as  the  second 
parish  of  Sheffield."! 

In  an  "Almanack"  of  date,    1766, J  giving 
a  description  of  the  various  post    routes  of 
the  country,  is  this  itinerary: 
Road  to  Albany 
From  Springfield  to  West- 
field,  7 
Bounds  of  ditto,  5         12 
Blanford,                                  8         20 
Green  Woods,                        12         32 
No.  1,  7         39 

Sheffield,  4         43 

*  Id. 

t    Id.  .  ,  . 

t    Probably  Hutchin  s ,  the  title  page  is  gone. 

15 


Sheffield  Bounds, 

3 

Noble-Town, 

11 

Bounds  of  ditto, 

4 

Stone-House, 

6 

Kinderhook, 

10 

Half- Way  House, 

10 

Albany, 

7 

TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

46 

57 
61 
67 

77 
87 
94 

This  service  was  by  post  rider.  Stages 
were  yet  to  be.  Pixley's  does  not  here  ap- 
pear. The  "Green  Woods"  was  a  tract 
lying  immediately  to  the  westward  of  Bland- 
ford,  extending  along  its  full  western  bound- 
ary from  north  to  south.  There  is  a  modern 
survival  of  the  name  attaching  to  one  of  the 
later  post  roads  to  Albany  a  few  miles  to  the 
north  of  this  oldest  post  road.  Possibly 
Pixley's  w^as  esteemed  to  be  in  the  "Green 
Woods"  in  1766.  Perhaps  it  had  ceased  to 
be  altogether.  Certainly  b}^  1771  its  public 
character  had  gone  from  it.  In  that  year  it 
passed  from  the  administrators  of  the  estate 
of  "the  Hon^'^  Samuel  Watts  Esq."*  to 
Jonathan  Shepard,  and  the  inn  was  no  more. 

The  old  road  crossed  a  part  of  the  town 
little  visited  or  known  by  most  of  its  present 

*  The  pompous  title  affords  large  presumption,  in  the  phraseology  of  the 
time,  of  the  worthy  gentleman's  intimacy  with  the  liquor  traffic. 

16 


PIXLEY'S  TAVERN 

dwellers,  where  other  roads  as  well  as  this 
one  are  largely  abandoned  and  grown  up  to 
forest  or  become  pasture.  Its  houses  are 
falling  to  ruins  or  already  gone,  with  scarcely 
a  discernible  cellar  or  foundation  remaining. 
Here  and  there  a  tenanted  residence  with- 
stands the  march  of  decay,  but  only  for  a 
little,  and  seems  to  whisper  to  the  infre- 
quent traveller,  "Morituri,  salutamus."  There 
in  the  brush  is  still  reposing  a  milestone  of 
the  old  post  route  two  or  three  miles  beyond 
Pixley's,  the  distance  to  Albany  being  carved 
upon  its  face.  A  languishing  postal  star 
route,  with  difficulty  finding  a  contractor 
when  the  business  is  periodically  advertised 
for  bids,  cuts  athwart  the  old  road,  as  does 
the  approved  route  of  the  automobile  club 
on  its  runs  between  Springfield  and  Lenox, 
but  avoiding,  for  the  most  part,  the  straighter 
and  ruggeder  road  of  the  pioneers. 

We  began  with  a  pioneer  in  the  vast  wilder- 
ness. We  have  arrived  at  a  chauffeur  and 
his  proprietor  of  wealth  and  ease,  gliding 
over  the  country  upon  cushions  of  air.  It 
is  time  we  retraced  our  steps  to  the  long 
Past.     In  the  concerns  of   this  least  of  all 

17 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

known  taverns  of  Blandford,  we  have  confront- 
ed Legislature  and  proprietor,  minister  and 
gentleman,  adventurer  and  soldier.  We  have 
taken  one  glance  at  the  crackling  fire  of  great 
logs  in  the  monstrous  fireplace,  and  have  seen 
a  group  of  wayfarers  encircled  about  it,  the 
smoke  pouring  in  clouds  through  the  hole  in  the 
roof.  We  have  found  a  barrel  of  rum  and 
discovered  a  group  of  soldiers  drinking;  but 
those  soldiers  were  also  mixing  with  blood  the 
mortar  which  was  to  hold  together  the  great 
foundation  stones  of  the  nation.  We  have 
watched  the  bridle-path  across  one  half  the 
Commonwealth  widen  into  a  post  road  for  carry- 
ing the  messages  of  peace  and  the  businesses  of  a 
great  people.  We  have  beheld  this  rude  inn  of 
a  fleeting  generation  vanish  away  with  the 
smoke  of  its  own  fires,  and  not  so  much  as  a 
square  mound  of  turf  left  to  mark  its  site  to-day. 
But  it  was  an  institution  without  which  the 
State  could  not  well  be.  It  should  not  be  for- 
gotten. Other  taverns  of  old  Blandford  there 
were  of  which  we  know  vastly  more.  Even  so 
this  one  has  established  its  right  to  have  been. 
The  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  took 
a  building  stone  out  of  Pixley's  tavern.* 

*  V.  Appendix  III. 

18 


T 


Chapter  Two 

7he  Corner  Tavern: 

The  Hustons  and  Peases 

"^HE  corner  tavern  was  altogether  unlike 
Pixley's  in  its  origin  and  traditions. 
Like  Pixley's,  it  faced  the  "  'Tunack 
Road,"  altogether  to  its  advantage.  But 
it  was  a  village  inn,  within  a  stone's  throw 
of  meeting-house  and  school-house.  It 
did  not  have  to  be  legislated  into  existence, 
but  sprang  up  indigenous  to  the  soil,  and  did 
not  melt  away  into  forgetfulness  as  the  years 
multiplied.  The  corner  tavern  grew  with  the 
town,  helped  to  make  the  town  grow,  gathered 
within  its  cheerful  precincts  much  of  what 
was  best  in  town  life,  became  a  deep  and 
fruitful  soil  in  which  local  traditions  took 
root,  nourished  men  of  distinction,  and  made 
history  for  town,  commonwealth  and  nation 
in  the  persons  of  men  we  know.  With  the 
possible  exception  of  an  obscure  decade  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  the  corner  tavern 
was  in  active  operation  for  nearly  a  century 
and  three  quarters.* 

*  The  Mountain  house,  which  burned  to  the  ground  in  the  late  fall  of  1901, 
was  the  last  survivor.  It  was  an  enlargement  of  the  building  erected 
by  Orrin  Sage,  Esq. 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

At  the  very  first  the  school-house  inter- 
vened between  the  tavern  and  the  corner  of 
the  town  street.*  But  presently  a  short 
cut  of  a  few  rods  was  made,  beginning  be- 
tween school-house  and  tavern  and  joining 
the  old  street  close  by  the  meeting-house. 
In  the  New  England  town  a  tavern  was 
alwa3^s  to  be  found  near  the  meeting-house. 
Sometimes  the  conditions  of  the  license  re- 
quired that  it  should  be  so.  Else  where 
should  town  meetings  adjourn  to,  or  church- 
goers resort  during  noonings?  No  need  to 
compel  these  Scotch-Irishmen  to  put  up  a 
public  house  of  entertainment  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  community.  The}^  had  sense 
and  good  taste  enough  to  do  it  without  being 
told  to.  "A  little  East  of  the  Meeting 
House,"  it  was,  says  one  of  the  deeds.  And 
it  was  there  at  least  five  years  before  the 
sanctuary,  but  let  it  not  be  thought  that  it 
preceded  public  worship  and  Christian  service 
by  a  3'ear  or  a  day. 

When  the  Hopkinton  men  were  negotiating 
with  Lawton  for  home  lots  in  what  was  to 
be    the    settlement    of    Glasgow,    John     and 

♦  Now  known  as  North  street,  which  then  passed  straight  down    between 
the  pines  to  its  southerly  extension  towards  West  Granville. 

20 


THE  HUSTONS  AND  PEASES 

Robert  Huston  drew  two  lots  adjoining  each 
other.  Robert's  was  just  across  the  street 
from  the  meeting-house  lot,  or  from  that  spot 
where  the  meeting-house  was  to  be.  John's 
lot  happened  to  be  just  next  north  of  Robert's. 
The  first  settlement  was  made  in  1735. 
Robert  took  out  an  innholder's  license  in 
1736,  and  this  was  continued  until  1740, 
when  John  was  licensed,  in  which  year  the 
aforesaid  John  was  also  appointed  by  the 
court  of  general  sessions  of  the  peace  at 
Northampton,  "To  take  care  of  the  Preserva- 
tion of  Deer  att  Glascow."  In  the  fifties 
William  Huston  carried  on  a  license  for  a  few 
years.  Not  improbably  he  was  a  younger 
brother  of  the  other  two  Hustons.  At  any 
rate,  he  was  one  of  "the  boys"  drawing  a 
small  lot  away  up  at  the  extreme  northern 
end  of  the  line,  where  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  he  did  his  business.  It  is  altogether 
easy  to  believe  that  the  three  Hustons  pooled 
their  interests  more  or  less  in  their  business 
as  hospitalers,  and  all  located  at  the  corner 
tavern,  John  being  ever  the  man  of  force. 
John  and  William  both  became  officers  in 
the   French   and    Indian    wars.     The   former 

21 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

was  surveyor,  land  agent,  man  of  the  world 
and  elder  of  the  church.  He  surveyed  and 
laid  out  the  towns  of  Housatunnock  and 
Pontusuck,  the  latter  name  ultimately  giving 
way  to  that  of  Pittsfield,  the  shire  town  of 
Berkshire  county.  He  had  large  share  with 
Roger  Newbury  in  laying  out  the  town  of 
Glasgow,  and  it  might  be  hard  to  specify  in 
what  large  land  grant  of  his  time  in  western 
Massachusetts  he  did  not  have  a  part. 

This  primeval  institution,  the  comer  tavern, 
in  the  front  rank  before  all  others,  proceeded 
early  to  perform  its  traditional  functions. 
The  records,  if  scanty,  are  at  least  specific. 
When  the  Rev.  James  Morton's  ordination 
was  under  consideration,  after  some  backing 
and  filling  it  was  decided  that  the  council 
having  the  important  business  in  charge 
should  be  entertained  at  the  candidate's 
house.  That  clerical  gentleman  was  abun- 
dantly versatile,  quite  too  much  so,  some- 
times, to  please  the  more  punctilious  of  his 
flock,  and  on  this  initial  occasion  he  put  in  a 
bid  for  the  business  of  entertainer  as  a  not 
unprofitable  incident  in  the  quite  too  scanty 
ministerial  budget.     Nevertheless,   when    all 

22 


THE  HUSTONS  AND  PEASES 

the  bills  came  to  be  settled,  quite  an  account 
was  presented  by  the  proprietor  of  the 
corner  tavern.  Sept.  29,  1749,  "Voted 
Granted  to  mr  Huston  Eighteen  Shillings 
old  tenor  for  keeping  of  men  and  horses  at 
the  ordenation."  Other  grants  were  made 
to  individuals,  but  the  articles  paid  for  are 
not  specified.  There  is  sufficient  definite- 
ness,  however,  with  respect  to  a  council 
which  convened  a  few  years  later,  and  its 
dependence  upon  the  distinguished  land- 
lords of  the  village.*  "Voted,  to  give  Mr. 
Root  6  pence  law^ful  money  for  Each  Meal 
of  Vittles  each  member  of  the  council  shall  eat 
in  the  time  that  they  shall  Seat  Hear  on  our 
Business,  and  also  18  pence  old  tenor  per 
Night  for  each  Member  of  the  Council's 
lodging,  and  that  the  town  pay  Mr.  Root 
for  the  strong  Drink  that  the  Council  drink 
while  they  are  Hear  on  our  Business,  saving 
Syder  at  their  Vittles,"  which  appears  to 
have  been  a  part  of  the  regular  menu.  Hewit 
Root  had  entered  upon  the  succession  as 
proprietor  of  the  comer  tavern. 

*  The  citation  is  made  from  Mr.  Gibbs's  address,  p.  49,  as  long  years  ago 
some  vandal  cut  out  the  leaf  in  the  town  records  containing  the 
minute. 

23 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Some  months  later  in  the  same  year  it 
was  "Voted,  That  the  town  shall  pay  to  Dea. 
Israel  Gibbs  and  Samuel  Carnahan  the  first 
Cost  for  the  Rum  and  sugar  the  Council  shall 
Need  while  they  Seat  Hear."  This  council 
first  met  in  February,  then  adjourned  to  the 
June  following.  Hence  the  two  appropria- 
tions. Their  minds  were  not  so  overcome 
by  "strong  Drink"  nor  were  their  judgments 
so  warped  by  abundant  hospitality  but  that 
they  sat  soberly  in  judgment  upon  pastor 
and  people,  soundly  admonishing  both  for 
their  errors.  In  1766,  at  another  and  later 
council,  "Landlord  Reece,"  proprietor  of 
the  same  house,  was  granted  one  pound  for 
"Each  minister  and  Delegit,"  not  specif ^dng 
the  fare.  This  was  for  the  council  which 
ended  the  stormy  pastorate  of  Mr.  Morton. 

Meantime,  during  all  these  years,  this 
house  of  entertainment  had  been  having  its 
full  share,  with  other  similar  resorts,  of  the 
patronage  of  the  citizens  on  town  meeting 
days.  "Adjourned  to  mr.  Hustons"  is  the 
laconic  expression  which  hints  of  agreeable 
refuge  for  voting  citizens  from  the  chilly 
winds   of   March   or   the   parching   thirst    of 

24 


Congregational  Meeting-House 


"Albany  Road,"  looking  up  to  School-House 


THE  HUSTONS  AND  PEASES 

August.  Says  Edward  Field,*  "There  is 
no  more  picturesque  character  in  early 
Colonial  life  than  the  individual  who  presided 
over  the  tavern.  He  was  a  prominent  per- 
sonage in  the  management  of  town  affairs, 
was  thoroughly  informed  on  all  public  matters 
and  private  matters  as  well;  he  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  all  who  gathered  around  his 
fireside,  and  he  always  held  public  office. 
Indeed,  to  hold  public  office  was  the  preroga- 
tive of  the  tavern  keeper.  His  house  was  the 
rendezvous  for  all  townspeople,  and  all 
matters  of  news  sooner  or  later,  generally 
sooner,  were  discussed  around  his  blazing 
fire  in  winter  or  where  the  breezes  blew 
coolest  around  his  place  in  summer."  The 
Blandford  innkeeper  was  no  exception  to  this 
rule.  The  Hustons  were  prominent  men, 
Robert  and  William  both  serving  as  selectmen. 
John  was  absent  too  much  on  his  various 
businesses  to  hold  office  in  the  town. 

Thus  the  corner  tavern  took  root  securely. 
But  it  grew  slowly.  Twenty  years  after 
Robert  Huston  kindled  his  hospitable  fires 
at  this  old  inn,  the  first  rude   dwelling  had 

*  The  Colonial  Tavern. 

25 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

been  replaced  by  a  more  pretentious  building 
known  in  the  conventional  phraseolog}^ 
of  the  time  as  a  "Mansion  House."  By  this 
was  meant,  first  that  it  was  a  frame  structure 
as  distinguished  from  the  first  log  house  of 
the  Hustons,  and  secondly,  that  probably 
it  was  somewhat  larger  than  the  generality 
of  houses.*  Even  so,  and  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  other  little  taverns  had  sprung  up 
in  or  near  Blandford  village,  in  periods  of  war 
the  capacity  of  the  house  was  far  over- 
taxed. A  document  of  the  day  (1757)  bears 
witness  to  the  passing  of  soldiers  along  the 
road  by  "hundreds,"  so  that  "it  was  im- 
possible for  the  Tavern  to  accommodate" 
them.  The  minister's  house  was  therefore 
thrown  open,  again  sadly  to  the  scandal  of 
that  ecclesiastic's  fastidious  flock.  Before 
ever  Pixley's  was  reached  on  the  westward 
march,  the  corner  tavern  invited  the  way- 
farer.     Throngs  of  travellers  passed  it — and 

*  The  deed  referring  to  it  is  recorded  in  Vol.  X,  p.  746,  Elisha  Parks  being 
grantor  and  Hewet  Root  grantee.  It  is  described  thus  in  detail : 
"a  little  East  of  the  Meeting  House  where  the  sd  Root  now  Dwells 
where  Robert  Huston  lately  Dwelt  being  the  Settling  or  House- 
lotts  in  sd  Township  known  by  lotts  No  43-44  45  adjoining  Each 
other,  Bounded  Northwesterly  on  Robert  Henrys  lott  and  South 
Easterly  on  John  Boyses  lott.  Northerly  on  the  Second  Division 
lotts,  Southerly  by  the  Highway  or  Common  Partly  and  Partly  by 
the  land  of  Rev.  Mr.  James  Morton  with  a  Mansion  House  and  a  Barn 
Standing  thereon  Containing  one  Hundred  Eighty  acres  be  the 
Same  more  or  less." 

26 


THE  HUSTONS  AND  PEASES 

patronized  it — regiments  and  cavalcades, 
caravans  of  emigrants,  post-men  and  the 
local  stream  of  life. 

No  trace  of  any  tavern  log  book  of  this 
early  generation  has  survived  to  satisfy  the 
curiosity  which  eagerly  asks  for  more.  The 
best  that  can  be  done  is  to  cite  here  and  there 
a  fragmentary  note  from  the  town  records 
or  some  fugitive  document.  In  1759  ex- 
tensive improvements  were  going  on  at  the 
meeting-house,  where  "mr  Kattlen"  was 
engaged  as  a  skilled  workman  from  abroad. 
He  was  boarded  at  several  places,  one  of 
them  being  the  house  of  "mr  pees."  This 
was  Nathaniel  Pease,  recently  succeeded  to 
the  business  at  the  corner.  He  received 
"five  shillings  per  week  for  Belleten  mr 
Kattlen  four  weeks."  The  Peases,  first  and 
last,  were  a  numerous  and  influential  clan, 
and  hailed  from  Connecticut.  What  prestige 
Nathaniel  had  already  become  possessed  of 
when  he  sat  himself  within  the  hospitable 
mansion  at  the  corner  may  be  indicated  in 
the  fact  that  that  very  year  he  was  named 
by  the  town  as  first  of  a  committee  to  "Lay 

27 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

out  the  pew  pate*  to  Each  person  according 
to  the  List."  He  served  the  town  as  a 
selectman  and  town  meeting  moderator. 
The  inn  on  the  corner  was  gathering  dignity. 
Next  came  Levi  Pease,  a  native  of  Enfield, 
Conn.,  in  1739  or  '40.  Levi  was  a  black- 
smith, and  was  by  no  means  the  only  man 
of  that  honorable  trade  who  passed  on  to  the 
place  of  landlord.  Something  about  the 
publicity  of  the  smithy  was  inviting  to  the 
more  aristocratic  and  cosmopolitan  occu- 
pation. Levi  Pease  made  a  local  name  for 
himself  in  the  Scotch- Irish  town  of  Pelham, 
then  came  to  Blandford.  He  was  a  typical 
Boniface  of  the  old  style.  Utterly  forgotten 
by  his  Blandford  townsmen  of  the  present 
generation — melancholy  testimony  to  the  ease 
with  which  a  community  consigns  to  oblivion 
what  should  be  among  its  choicest  memories 
— he  rises  up  out  of  the  past  to  greet  us  from 
the  pages  of  colonial  history  as  one  famous 
among  the  pioneers  of  civic  progress  in  New 
England.  From  1770  to  1776  he  was  owner 
of   the   corner    tavern,    whence   he   went   to 

*  A  clerical  error  for  "rate."  The  other  men  on  this  committee  were  John 
Knox,  also  an  innkeeper,  John  Hamilton, William  Boies,  and  David 
McConoughey. 

28 


THE  HUSTONS  AND  PEASES 

establish  himself  in  Shrewsbury,  Conn.  It 
was  in  Shrewsbury,  in  the  tavern  to  which 
Levi  Pease  was  to  succeed  after  leaving 
Blandford,  and  while  that  young  man  was 
getting  together  his  ideas  of  the  public  busi- 
ness in  this  lively  village,  that  John  Adams 
heard  the  stirring  dialogue  over  the  Stamp 
Act.  "If  Parliament  can  take  away  Mr. 
Hancock's  wharf  and  Mr.  Rowe's  wharf,  they 
can  take  away  your  barn  and  my  house." 
Mary  Caroline  Crawford*  quotes  this  same 
statesman  and  writer  as  saying  concerning 
"Landlord  Pease"  at  that  time,  that  he  "was 
the  great  man  of  the  town;  their  represen- 
tative &c  as  well  as  tavern-keeper,  just  re- 
turned from  the  General  Assembly  at  Hart- 
ford." The  date  is  a  little  confusing.  He 
was  owner  of  the  Blandford  establishment  at 
that  time.  In  the  ledger  of  Col.  Sloper,  who 
was  carrying  on  a  miscellaneous  establish- 
ment of  farm,  store,  tavern  and  what-not  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  above,  on  the  town  street, 
there  is  a  family  account  against  Levi  Pease: 
To  1  accompt  Book   5-6  0     5     6 

To  1  lb  Brimstone  9d  0     0     9 

*  In  Little  Pilgrimages  Among  Old  New  England  Inns,  p.  209. 

29 


0 

3 

3 

0 

0 

6 

0 

1 

3 

0 

3 

6 

0 

1 

6 

0 

6 

2 

0 

2 

8 

2 

8 

0 

1 

2 

3 

TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

To  1  red  Spoted  Hanker 

To  1  lb  Mapel  Sugar 

To  1  Slait  pensel 

To  1-4  lb  indego  3-6 

To  1  Box  &  Sope 

To  1-8  3^d  Callico  at  5-6 

To  1  Set  of  tea  Dishes  2-8 

To  12  galons  of  rum  at  4- 

To  1-8  yd  Carlet  Broad  Cloth 

J.  H.  Temple'^  tells  this  story  of  the  man 
whose  early  movements  have  seemed  so 
obscure,  and  whose  later  enterprise  was  so 
conspicuous.  "He  was  in  the  public  service 
during  the  whole  of  the  war,  in  the  commissary 
department t  and  as  the  bearer  of  important 
despatches.  When  Gen.  Thomas  was  on  the 
northern  frontier,  he  often  passed  to  and  fro 
between  him  and  headquarters;  and  was 
present  with  him  when  he  died  of  smallpox. 
He  was  strong,  courageous  and  wary.  He 
used  to  tell  how  to  avoid  capture  when 
carrying  orders ;  he  crossed  the  lake  in  a  small 
boat,  and  alone,  rather  than  travel  by  the 
usual  routes;  lying  concealed  in  the  day  time, 

*  In  his  History  of  Pelham. 

t  To   which   his   tavern   experience   immediately   preceding   in   Blandford 
undoubtedly  prepared  him. 

30 


THE  HUSTONS  AND  PEASES 

and  pushing  ahead  at  night.  When  the 
moon  shone  bright,  he  would  pull  out  from 
shore,  and  stretching  himself  at  length,  would 
work  the  boat  with  his  hands  as  paddles. 
He  always  got  his  despatches  through  safely. 
Commissary  Wadsworth  always  trusted  him 
with  a  saddle-bag  full  of  money  with  which 
to  purchase  cattle  and  horses,  taking  no 
receipt  therefor."  Pease  became  a  courage- 
ous adventurer  in  the  business  of  serving  the 
traveling  public,  having  the  prophetic  vision 
of  a  true  statesman.  At  the  close  of  the 
Revolution  he  established  a  line  of  stages  be- 
tween Hartford  and  Boston.  He  ran  empty 
wagons  back  and  forth  repeatedly  before 
the  people  awoke  to  their  privilege.  But 
Pease  was  awake  before  them,  and  knew 
that  the  people  would  follow.  He  was  the 
animating  spirit  of  the  first  Massachusetts 
turnpike,  which  connected  Boston  and 
Worcester.*  He  was  made  poor  by  these 
several  enterprises,  but  New  England  was 
made  rich.     Levi  Pease  died  in  1824. 

The    Peases     were    numerous,    and    were 

*  There  is  an  interesting  chapter  on  Levi  Pease,  "The  Father  of  the  Turn- 
pike and  Some  Related  Taverns,"  in  "Little  Pilgrimages  Among 
Old  New  England  Inns,"  before  referred  to. 

31 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

addicted  to  innkeeping.  In  the  vicissitudes 
of  the  business  the  farm  and  the  tavern  lot, 
or  homestead,  became  differentiated,  the  one 
from  the  other.  The  latter  was  of  thirty 
acres,  or  twenty-eight,  as  sometimes  esti- 
mated, divided  into  two  equal  parts  by  the 
road.  The  tavern  itself  was  on  the  north 
or  east  side.  Two  large  barns  were  on  the 
opposite  side  abutting  upon  the  "Burying 
Yard,"  Rev.  James  Morton's  home  lot  and 
Judah  Bement's,  the  blacksmith.  The 
northeasterly  lot  w^as  sixty  rods  front  by 
forty  in  depth.  The  estate  is  furthermore 
described  in  1776  as  bounded  on  the  west  by 
"the  Training  Field,"  the  same  being  a  part 
of  the  ten-acre  lot,  or  common.  There  was 
also  "a  Store  House  Standing  between  s'^ 
House  and  barn."* 

Robert  Pease  came    from  Somers,   Conn., 
to  carry  on  the  succession.      From  him  the 

*  Deeds.  Vol.  8,  pp.  273  and  338,  Vol.  10,  p.  128,  Vol.  13,  p.  7SS.  Robert 
Huston  and  his  successors  in  business  down  to  and  including  Na- 
thaniel Pease,  owned  the  home  lots  in  the  first  division  numbered 
43,  44,  and  45.  The  northern  boundary  of  this  combined  pl''t  is 
at  or  very  near  the  present  southern  boundary  of  the  agricultural 
fair  grounds,  and  below  the  school-house  it  extends  on  both  sides 
of  the  present  village  street — the  old  Sheffield,  or  'Tunock,road — 
to  about  the  point  where  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  stands. 
It  included  land  on  both  sides  of  the  present  Russell  road  to  the 
western  boundary  of  the  second  division,  near  the  H  insdale  house. 
All  but  fifty  acres  of  this  farm  passed  from  Nathaniel  to  his  son 
Levi,  who  in  turn  sold  it  to  Robert  Pease  in  the  year  of  the  country's 
Independence. 

32 


THE  HUSTONS  AND  PEASES 

farm  passed  to  his  two  sons,  Abner  and 
Alphaeus,  but  the  tavern  lot  of  twenty-eight 
acres  was  bought  of  Robert  Pease,  April  3, 
1779,  by  Justus  Ashmun,  for  the  sum  of 
twelve  hundred  pounds  in  the  currency  of 
the  day.  Testimony  is  borne  to  the  hold 
which  the  Peases  had  got  upon  the  place  and 
its  reputation,  by  the  descriptive  clause  in 
the  deed  of  sale,  "being  well  known  by  the 
name  of  Pease's  Tavern."  The  "store 
House"  is  again  particularly  named  in  the 
instrument  of  conveyance.*  For  the  present 
the  Peases  pass  out  of  view,  to  appear  again 
in  a  rival  stand  just  north  of  the  meeting- 
house. In  passing  over  to  Justus  Ashmun, 
the  corner  tavern  was  assured  of  increase  to 
its  local  prestige  and  an  honorable  part  in 
giving  to  the  State  some  of  its  finest  souls. 

*  Vol,  16,  p.  3'58. 


33 


Chapter  Three 

The  Corner  Tavern: 

J  he   Ashmuns    and  their 

Successors,  * 

IN  the  year  1777,  the  residents  of  a  Httle 
village  on  the  Hudson,  fort}^  or  forty-five 
miles  above  Albany,  were  compelled  by 
the  approach  of  the  British  arm}^  under 
Burgoyne,  to  seek  other  homes.  One  of  these 
refugees  was  Justus  Ashmun,  who  fled  with 
his  family,  but  was  obliged  to  leave  nearly 
all  his  property  behind  him.f  He  estab- 
lished himself  in  Blandford,  where  he  suc- 
ceeded Levi  Pease  as  proprietor  of  the  corner 
tavern  some  months  before  he  became  its 
owner.  That  prince  among  editors,  Samuel 
Bowles,  on  occasion  of  the  death  of  George 
Ashmun,  grandson  of  Justus,  wrote  in  the 
Springfield  Republican,  speaking  of  Bland- 
ford  as   "that  olden    glory  of  our  mountain 

*  For  many  of  the  facts  given  in  this  chapter  concerning  the  Ashmuns 
1  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  tl.  Morton,  who 
gave  me  access  to  several  newspaper  articles  referred  to  in  sub- 
sequent pages.  Mrs.  Morton  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  Hon.  George 
Ashmun. 

t  From  an  article  in  the  Hampshire  Gazette,  1819. 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

towns,"  and  remarked  thus  concerning  Justus 
Ashmun:  He  "kept  the  tavern  there,  in 
the  days  when  all  the  travel  between  the 
East  and  the  West  stopped  there  to  change 
horses  and  to  breakfast  or  dine,  in  the  da3^s 
when  tavern-keeping  was  the  privilege  of  the 
first  citizen,  and  when  the  tavern-keeper  had 
the  confidence,  not  only  of  all  the  citizens 
of  his  village,  but  of  all  the  great  men  who 
went  back  and  forth  from  under  his  roof. 
Judge  Sedg^vick  of  Berkshire  found  a  familiar 
and  congenial  home  in  this  mountain  tavern, 
and  there  found  Eli  P.  Ashmun,  a  bright 
and  promising  lad,  whom  he  encouraged  to 
study  the  profession  of  the  law."  Eli  was 
bom  in  New  York  State  and  was  a  small 
child  when  the  family  came  to  Massachusetts. 
What  the  fellow  citizens  of  the  new  landlord 
of  the  corner  tavern  thought  of  him  may 
be  inferred  from  what  they  gave  him  to  do. 
He  served  several  terms  as  selectman,  and  was 
moderator  of  town  m.eetings  repeated^.  No 
sooner  had  he  come  to  town  than  his  fellow 
tow^nsmen  put  him  on  the  Committee  of  In- 
spection and  Safety,  in  which  responsible  posi- 
tion he  acted  during   three  successive  years. 

35 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

He  was  placed  on  a  committee  to  supply  the 
pulpit  in  1782,  and  on  that  same  committee 
were  these  other  public  landlords:  Dea. 
William  Boies,  Dea.  Samuel  Boies  and  Brig- 
adier General  Warham  Parks.  In  that  same 
year,  when  the  town  voted  to  "seat  the 
Meeting  house  according  to  Age,  Pay  and 
Dignity,"  the  landlord  of  the  corner  tavern 
was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  to 
"estimate  the  Pews,"  along  with  Capt. 
William  Knox  and  Deacon  Samuel  Boies. 
Ten  years  later  Mr.  Ashmun  was  one  of  a 
much  larger  committee  to  seat  the  meeting 
house,  and  again  on  that  committee  was 
gathered  a  notable  company  of  men  who 
kept  public  houses:  Col.  Samuel  Sloper, 
Dea.  Samuel  Boies,  Jedediah  Smith  and 
Ensign  Timothy  Hatch* — a  majority  of  the 
committee.  He  was  justice  of  the  peace, 
and,  one  year  (1793)  in  his  occupancy  of  that 
honorable  position,  was  chosen  "Saxton  and 
to  Take  Care  of  the  Meeting  House  by  Keep- 
ing it  Clean  &  Securing  the  Doors."  In  1779 
he  was  selected  as  the  town's  responsible 
representative    at    the    Concord    convention 

*  If  not  that  year  running  a  public  house,  at  least  for  many  years    before 
and  after. 

36 


The  Hon.  George  Ashmun 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

for  the  regulation  of  the  depreciated  and 
demorahzed  currency,  and  received  £^60 
remuneration  in  the  aforesaid  currency  for 
his  eight  days'  absence. 

If  there  was  an  auction — "vandue"*  they 
called  it — it  was  located  at  the  tavern,  always. 
October  5,  1786,  the  town  "Granted  Justus 
Ashmun  ten  Shillings  for  Liquer  Spent  on 
the  Towns  Vandue  of  a  bridge  and  arbitra- 
tion." It  was  the  bridge  over  what  is  now 
known  as  Peebles'  brook,  and  there  had  been 
disagreement  over  it.  Again  the  next  year 
Mr.  Ashmun  was  on  a  similar  bridge  business 
"Near  Frary's  Mills" t  with  Samuel  Sloper 
and  Jonathan  Frary.  When  at  last  thous- 
ands of  acres  of  the  unimproved  lands  of 
the  town,  still  held  by  the  original  proprietors 
or  their  heirs,  were  condemned  when  no  one 
appeared  to  pay  the  taxes  on  them,  in  1782 
Justus  Ashmun  with  Gen.  Warham  Parks 
and  David  McConoughey  was  made  a  com- 
mittee to  assist  the  collectors  in  their  sales, 
the  land  so  purchased  to  be  the  property  of 
the  town  if  no  other  bidder   should  appear. 

*  Vendue. 

t  More  recently  known  as  Peebles'  mill. 

37 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Thousands  of  acres  were  so  disposed  of  at 
public  sale  in  the  tap-rooms  of  the  taverns. 

More  than  to  any  other,  town  meetings 
adjourned  to  Mr.  Ashmun's.  "Voted*  to 
Adjourn  the  meeting  to  Landd  Ashmuns;" 
"Voted!  to  adjourn  the  meeting  to  Mr. 
Ashmuns  to  meet  forthwith — met  according 
to  adjournment."  It  was  warm  there,  and 
congenial — especially  after  the  glasses  had 
been  drained. 

When  Rev.  Joseph  Badger  was  ordained 
to  the  gospel  ministry  in  the  old  church,  the 
perquisites  were  as  fairly  distributed  as 
possible  among  the  near-by  innholders. 
Abner  Pease,  just  above  the  meeting-house, 
was  granted  "four  pound  Seventeen  Shilling 
&  Sex  pence  for  Entertaining  the  Ordaining 
Counsel  by  order;"  Justus  Ashmun  was 
granted  "one  pound  four  Shillings  for  wine  for 
the  Counsel;"  Russel  Attwater,  a  little  lower 
down  the  street,  "Twenty  four  Shillings  for 
Rum  for  the  Counsel  and  Suger."|  Finally, 
when  the  Louden  disaffection  |  J  had  reached 

*  Jan.  27,  1780. 

t   Oct.  9,  1873. 

:   Dec.  3,  1787. 

JJThe  persistent  attempt,  covering  many  years,  on  the  part  of  the   people 

living  in  the  western  part  of  the  town,  "to  be  set    off  to  Louden," 

now  Otis. 

38 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

the  stage  of  legislative  investigation,  a  com- 
mittee made  up  largely  of  taverners  was 
chosen  to  meet  the  legislative  committee. 
This  local  body  was  composed  of  Dea.  Samuel 
Boies,  Justus  Ashmun,  Esq.,  Reuben  Boies, 
Collector,  Samuel  Sloper  and  Capt.  William 
Knox.  There  was  but  one  layman  among 
them, — if  one  is  not  too  insistent  upon  the 
particular  year  of  the  license. 

There  is  entry  of  1779,  "Granted  to  Justus 
Ashmun  ^2 — 15  for  entertaining  Sick  Soldiers 
five  Days  at  his  house."  In  peace  or  war, 
whether  with  arms  or  arguments,  the  corner 
tavern  was  equally  in  evidence  and  equally 
useful. 

The  innholders  of  these  old  days  did  not 
entertain  strangers  and  sell  them  cider  and 
rum  and  flip  because  they  could  do  nothing 
else.  They  were  farmers  to  a  man.  The 
whole  air  of  the  time  savored  of  simplicity, 
virility  and  ruggedness.  There  was  no  ser- 
vility in  the  atmosphere  of  the  tavern,  but 
homely  hospitality  at  once  hearty  and  in- 
dependent. It  partook  of  the  life  of  the 
community,  for  the  residents  were  dropping 
in    all    the    time.      One    must    believe    that 

39 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

somewhat  of  Sabbath  restraint  hung  about 
the  place  on  that  austere  day.  But  that 
tongues  were  not  let  loose  then  and  there 
who  may  believe?  A  tap-room  and  a  blaz- 
ing fire  in  winter,  or  the  benches  and  chairs 
on  the  veranda  in  the  breezes  of  summer, 
were  sufficient  invitation  for  that.  Work 
was  hard  enough  when  they  worked,  which 
was  most  of  the  time,  but  for  home-born 
and  stranger  alike  the  tavern  was  a  common 
meeting  ground.  It  is  a  long  way  back  from 
the  present,  and  fortunate  are  w^e  that 
imagination  is  not  our  only  guide. 

President  Timothy  Dwight,  of  Yale  College, 
forced  by  ill  health  to  travel,  chose  his  own 
New"  England  as  his  first  theatre  of  exploita- 
tion, and  as  his  inevitable  assistants,  the  stage- 
coach and  tavern.  He  began  his  tours  in 
1796.  He  was  at  that  time  no  youth,  and 
his  opportunity  for  retrospect  into  the  gen- 
eration immediately  preceding  was  of  the 
best.  In  his  "Travels  in  New  England  and 
New  York,"  he  gives  discriminating  and 
interesting  glimpses  into  the  tavern  of  his 
day  and  of  the  days  of  his  fathers.  Some- 
thing of  the  atmosphere  of  the  corner  tavern 

40 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

in   Blandford   can   thus    be   learned   at   first 
hand. 

"Our  ancestors,"  he  says,  "considered  an 
inn  as  a  place  where  travellers  must  trust 
themselves,  their  horses,  baggage  and  money; 
where  women  as  well  as  men  at  times  lodge, 
might  need  humane  and  delicate  offices,  and 
might  be  subjected  to  disagreeable  exposures. 
To  provide  for  safety  and  comfort,  and 
against  danger  and  mischief,  in  all  these 
cases,  they  took  particular  pains  in  their 
laws  and  administrations,  to  prevent  inns 
from  being  kept  by  vicious,  unprincipled, 
worthless  men.  Every  Innkeeper  in  Con- 
necticut must  be  recommended  by  the  Select- 
men, and  Civil  Authority,  Constables  and 
Grand  Jury  of  the  town  in  which  he  resides; 
and  then  licensed  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas.  Substantially  in 
the  same  manner  is  the  business  regulated 
in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire.  In 
consequence  of  this  system,  men  of  no  small 
personal  respectability    have  ever  kept  Inns 

in   this   country A   great   part   of 

the  New  England    Innkeepers,  however,  and 
their  families,   treat    a  decent  stranger  who 

41 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

behaves  civilly  to  them  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  show  to  him  that  they  feel  an  interest 
in  his  happiness;  and,  if  he  is  sick  or  unhappy, 
will  cheerfully  contribute  everything  in  their 
power  to  his  relief." 

This  distinguished  educator  devoted  a  few 
pages  to  the  story  of  the  Scotch-Irish  towns 
in  western  Massachusetts,  including  Bland- 
ford.  He  said  of  them,  "During  a  short 
period  these  people  exhibited  that  variety 
of  opinions  and  manners  which  they  brought 
with  them;  but  for  many  years  they  have 
worn  the  common,  sober,  orderly  character, 
which  has  ever  prevailed  in  the  Valley.* 
No  County  in  the  State  has  uniformly  so  firm 
an  adherence  to  order  and  good  government, 
or  a  higher  regard  to  learning,  morals  and 
religion." 

Reverting  again  to  the  subject  of  the  old 
New  England  tavern,  the  same  writer  pro- 
ceeds: "The  best  old-fashioned  New  Eng- 
land inns  were  superior  to  any  of  the  modern 
ones  which  I  have  seen.  They  were  at  less 
pains  to  furnish  a  great  variety  of  food.  Yet 
the  variet}^  was  simple.     The  food  was  always 

*  i.  e.,  of  the  Connecticut. 

42 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

of  the  best  quality;  the  beds  were  excellent; 
the  house  and  all  its  appendages  were  in  the 
highest  degree  clean  and  neat;  the  cookery 
was  remarkably  good;  and  the  stable  was 
not  less  hospitable  than  the  house.  The 
family  in  the  meantime  were  possessed  of 
principle,  and  received  you  with  the  kind- 
ness and  attention  of  friends.  Your  baggage 
was  as  safe  as  in  your  own  house.  If  you 
were  sick,  you  were  nursed  and  befriended 
as  in  your  own  family.  No  tavern-haunters, 
gamblers  or  loungers  were  admitted,  any 
more  than  in  a  well  ordered  private  habita- 
tion; and  as  little  noise  was  allowed. 

"There  was  less  bustle,  less  parade,  less 
appearance  of  doing  much  to  gratify  your 
wishes,  than  at  the  reputable  modern  inns; 
but  much  more  actually  done,  and  much 
more  comfort  and  enjoyment.  In  a  word,  you 
found  in  these  inns  the  pleasures  of  an  ex- 
cellent private  house.  To  finish  the  story, 
your  bills  were  always  equitable,  calculated 
on  what  you  ought  to  pay,  and  not  upon  the 
scheme  of  getting  the  most  which  extortion 
might  think  proper  to  demand . "  * 

*  Pp.  261-2. 

43 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

In  this  connection  a  paragraph  from  Mrs. 
Ahce  Morse  Earle's  "Customs  and  Fashions  in 
Old  New  England"  will  not  be  out  of  place. 

"The  traveler  did  not  carry  his  meals  from 
home  because  the  tavern  fare  was  expensive; 
at  the  inn  wliere  he  paid  ten  cents  for  his 
lodging  he  was  uniformly  charged  but  twenty- 
five  cents  for  a  regular  meal;  but  it  was  not 
the  fashion  to  purchase  meals  at  the  tavern; 
the  host  made  his  profits  from  the  liquor  he 
sold  and  from  the  sleeping-room  he  gave. 
Sometimes  the  latter  was  simple  enough. 
A  great  fire  was  built  in  the  fireplace  of 
either  front  room — the  bar-room  and  parlor 
— and  round  it,  in  a  semi-circle,  feet  to  the 
fire  and  heads  on  their  rolled  up  buffalo 
robes,  slept  the  tired  travelers.  A  few  syba- 
ritic and  rheumatic  tillers  of  the  soil  paid 
for  half  a  bed  in  one  of  the  double-bedded 
rooms  which  all  taverns  then  contained,  and 
got  a  full  bed's  worth,  in  deep  hollows  and 
high  billows  of  live-geese  feathers,  warm 
homespun  blankets  and  patch-work  quilts." 

It  was  not  all  quite  so  sober,  however,  as 
President  D wight  thought,  nor  was  it  always 
the  fact  that  a  man  got  a  whole  bed  for  half 

44 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

pay.  It  was  quite  the  custom  to  fill  both 
beds  when  necessary,  as  sometimes  it  was, 
and  a  man  was  thought  nothing  less  than  a 
curmudgeon  who  made  any  objection  to  the 
landlord  waking  him  up  an  hour  or  two  after 
he  had  gone  to  bed,  leading  by  candle  another 
man,  a  stranger,  to  finish  out  the  night  with 
him. 

As  Blandford  increased  in  prosperity  and 
came  to  consciousness  of  power  in  the  years 
succeeding  the  Revolution,  her  sons  began 
to  go  to  college  or  to  set  their  faces  toward 
the  vast  and  inviting  West.  If  college  were 
not  practicable,  resort  was  had  to  the  best 
which  the  community  could  afford — and  it 
was  much — in  the  way  of  private  teaching 
which  should  supplement  the  public  educa- 
tion. Private  libraries  in  the  homes  of  the 
people  were  scanty  indeed.  When  an  estate 
was  inventoried,  there  was  usually  listed  a 
Bible  or  two,  perhaps  a  psalm-book,  occa- 
sionally a  prayer-book,  and  not  infrequently 
a  few  "old  books"  of  not  sufficient  value  and 
number  to  specify  further.  Justus  Ashmun 
was  an  exception  to  the  rule.  He  had  a 
library  whose  inventory  was  as  follows : 

45 


TAVERNS  AXD  TURXPIKES 


1  Set  Spectator  8  Vols. 

S2.50 

1  Great  Bible 

4.00 

1  Thompsons  Seasons 

.75 

1  Salmons  Universal  Gazetteer 

.50 

1  Dorhams  phypeotheolog}'* 

.75 

1  Pomfrets  Poems 

.25 

1  Yoricks  Sermons 

.33 

1  Romains  Do. 

.25 

1  Salmons  Dictionary 

1.00 

1  SkA^  Lark 

.25 

1  Harveys  Meditations 

.33 

2  psalm  books 

.34 

1  Art  of  Speaking 

.33 

Of    these  books,   five, 

namely. 

Thomson  s 

Seasons,  Art  of  Speaking,  Harvey's  Mcditi- 
tions,  Pomfrefs  Poems  and  the  Sky  Lark 
were  all  advertised  in  Thomas's  Old  Farmer's 
Almanack  of  the  day,  books  published  and 
sold  by  the  remarkable  compiler  of  that 
important  little  annual,  which,  it  may  safely 
be  inferred,  was  a  regular  comer  to  the  comer 
tavern.  The  little  library  is  an  unusual  one 
for  its  day  in  Blandford,  and  the  inventory 
stands  as  witness  to  the  literary  taste  and  large 
outlook  on  life  of  the  landlord  at  the  old  stand. 

*  What  this  really  was  who  knows?     Nothing  else  can  seem  to  be   made 
out  of  this  item. 

46 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  only  other 
detailed  list  of  books  of  domestic  libraries 
which  I  have  discovered  in  the  town's  early 
history,  with  the  exception  of  one  which 
served  to  feed  the  young  mind  of  Rev. 
Daniel  Butler  in  the  old  home  on  Beech  hill, 
belonged  to  a  man  who  also  had  a  license  to 
sell  liquor,  though  it  was  a  retailer's,  not 
an  innholder's,  license.  This  was  the  library 
of  James  Wallace,  whose  house  was  some- 
where in  the  vicinity  of  Birch  meadow  brook, 
at  the  westerly  foot  of  Birch  hill.  He  was 
a  "hosier"  or  stocking-maker  by  trade,  and 
appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  considerable 
activity  and  some  influence,  though  little 
is  now  known  of  him.  His  connection  with 
our  present  story  of  Justus  Ashmun  is 
peculiarly  interesting,  not  only  as  illustrating 
the  kind  of  books  which  used  to  regale 
thoughtful  readers  in  New  England  country 
towns,  but  from  the  further  fact  that  Justus 
Ashmun's  literary  collection  was  partly 
gathered  from  this  very  library  of  James 
Wallace,  as  the  administration  papers  of 
Jedediah  Smith,  Esq.,  another  chief  func- 
tionary of  the   town  and   keeper  of  a  public 

47 


TAVERNS  AXD  TURNPIKES 

house,  bear   witness.      This   hbrary  of   Wal- 
lace's was  sold  and   scattered  all  over  town, 
Justus  Ashmun  being  not  the  least  of    the 
purchasers.      The    date      is    1795,    and    the 
library,  as  inventoried,  together    with  notes 
of  purchasers,  etc..  is  thus  listed: 
One  Book  Seamans  Compass 
"     Young  man  Companion   (L'  John  Wat- 
son) 0-1-3 
"     monthly  maczean   i^Wm.  Thompson)        0-0-2 
"     Pamphlet  (Asa  Merit)                                  0-0-2 
"     By  Dct  Whelock 

"     Book  medical  experiments    (Sol.  Noble)  0-0-6 
"     the  mercial*  Law  (Sol.  Noble)  0-0-2 

"     Old  Prair  Book  (Wm.  Thompson)  0-0-2 

"     the  Mirror 

"     pamphlet  (sold  to  Sol.  Noble)  0-0-2 

"  Wm.  Thompson)  0-0-2 

"M'' Atkins)  0-0-1 

"  "    Osbom)  0-0-1 

"     dissertation  on  the  govty  (Asa  Merit)      0-0-3 X 

(Wm.  M' Gomery)  0-0-1 

"     Do  Common  Sence  (Sol.  Noble)  0-0-2 

"     old  Blank  occont  Book  (Wm.  Knox)  4-6 

"     Bookcalled  the  Builders  Guid  (Wm.  Knox)  1 
"  "        "      Geographical  Gromer  (Elijah 

Knox)  2-6 

"     English  Dictionary  2-6 

*  I.  e.,  martial, 
t  Or,  gout  ? 

48 


THE  ASHxMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

Sold    to     Esq.    Ashmun    Old    Books    to    the 
Amount  of  five  Shilling   &  Nin 
Pence  5-9 

Sold  to  WiTL.  Thompson,  old  Books  3 

one  Salmons  Family  Dictionary  3 

Universal  Gazetteer  4 

Book  Called  New  Devotion  1-6 

Dto  the  Loyalty  of  Presbyterians  5 

"    Obedience  to  the  Laws  of  the  Gosple   6 
troubles  of  David  1-3 

Bible  1-6 

the  Mareners  Callender  1 

Military  Instructions  1-6 

the  trety  of  Replevin  1-4 

Popes  Essay  on  man  4 

"     D  Small  Pamphlet  2 

Small  Dto  on  St  Patrick  4 

Old  Waggoner  2 

Narrative  on  the  Proceedings  of  Govern- 
ment of  New  York  1 
Book  on  religion  By  Dr  Dowman  6 
Amicas  appeal  a  Pamphlet  5 
Dto  the  Cooks  Guide                                              4 
Irish  Rebellion                                                     1-6 

Justus  Ashman  bought  "Old  Books  to  the 
Amount  of  thre  SilHngs  "* 

It  is  altogether  a  remarkably  interesting 
list,  and  will   bear  study  in  the  light  of  the 

*  The  above  items  are  gathered  from  several  hsts,  but  otherwise  are  un- 
changed from  the  original  documents. 

49 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

times  in  which  it  appeared.  Justus  Ash- 
mun's  Ubrary  was  materially  increased  by 
his  modest  investments  from  the  estate  of 
his  contemporary. 

This    country    innkeeper     and    squire    did 
not  live  to  witness  the    brilliant  careers  of 
his   son   and   grandsons.      He   died   in    1799. 
That  not  easy    conditions  and  splendid  ap- 
pointments, but  character,  stamped  the  man 
for  what  he  was,  testimony  additional  to  the 
simple  narrative  already    told  follows  here- 
with   in    the    modest    inventory    of    Justus 
Ashmun's  estate : 
1  Chest  with  Drawers 
1  Desk      "     book  Case 
1  Large  Clock  &  Cace 
10  Dining  Chairs  at  75  cts  each 
14  Armed  Do  at  $1  Each 
1  old  Do 
1  Rocking  Do 
1  Looking  Glass 

1  pair  hand  irons  with  Brass  heads 
1  do  hand  Bellows 
1  Small  Slice  &  tongs 
1  Small  steel  yards 
1  Long  Maple  Table 
1  Dining  Cherry  Do 
1  Kitchen  pine  Table 

SO 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

1  Long  Cherry  D"  with  leaves 

1  d"  pine  D^  with  D" 

1  Dining  Cherry  D"  broken 

1  large  Stand  do  $0.50  &  one  Small  D''  0.25 

1  pair  of  large  hand  irons  $2.50  &  1    Slice    &  tongs 

large  1.25 
11  Kitchen  Chairs  at  25c  each 

2  Trammels  $1.     1  Small  Shovel  25  c 
1  Large  pot  $1.     1  D'' $1.     1  do  25c 

1  D°  Kettle  $1.     1  dish  Kettle  75c 
1  Skillet  17c     2  small  kettles  $1 
1  Frying  pan  50c     2  Spiders  $1 
1  Gridiron  25c     1  toasting  D^  14^ 
9K  lb  old  brass  $2     5  Sad  irons  1.37 
1  large  brass  kettle  $7     1  Saw  75c 

3  Sickles  42^     1  Garden  Rake  10^ 

3  Tin  Candlesticks  17c     2  Meal  Sieves  67*^ 

3  Brass  Candlesticks  $3     3  d°  old  2.25 

2K  doz.  Earthen  Table  plates  1.25      1  doz  difrt  0.37 

1  oval  Earthen  dish  25^^  half  doz glasses  75c 

1  Salver  25c     2  doz  Colored  cups  &  saucers  66 
1  Sugar  bowl  17c     1  Blk  teapot  17^     1  pi  Salts  17"^ 
1  Qt  decanter  30     1  pt  do  20     1  Cruit  8 
28  Glass    bottles    2.33      12    old    Silver    $12      1     pr 
Snuffers  &  Tray  50 

4  tin  Cannisters  50     1  pepper  Mill  33 

1  pr  money   Scales,    box   &   weights    75       6    pewter 

platters  $2 
6  lb  old  pewter  33     3  tin  milk  pans  75      1  Tin  Can  $3 

2  large  spinning  Wheels  $1      1  Small  D^  1.50 

51 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Clock  Reel  25      1  hetchel  75 

Seal  Trunk  SI 

Bed  with  Wait  Ticking  Bedding  &  bed  stead  $10 

D"  plain  D"  D''  10 

Do  wait  "  14 

9 
"      old  6 

4 
4 
4 

D"  do  without  Bolsters  &  Bedstead  3 

1  old  hog  heads  at  1  Each 

Warming  pan  2.50     200  wt  old  iron  6.66 

Gun  $5     1  do  large  S3      1  do  &  bayonet  S5 

Camblet  Cloak  $1.50     1  Great  Coat  $3 

Straight  bodied  Coat  $3 

Surtout 

Ox  Cart  with  Clavis  &  pin  $12      1  ox  yoke  75 

Ox  plough  1.75      1  horse  do     1.00 
25  tons  of  hay  $125 

broad  ax  $1.     1  crowbar  1.50 

hoe  50     3  Chains  $3.     3  narrow  axes  $2. 

Mans  saddle  $3.     1  Womans  S6     1  bridle  50 
2  bags  $1.     10  Towels  at  25  each      7  Table  Spreads 
(The  library,  as  given  above) 

1  Yoke  Oxen  $50 
4  Cows  at  $11 

2  2  year  old  Stears  at  9 
2  do  Heiffers  at  9 

20  Sheep  at  1.25 

52 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

1  old  horse  1 7 

1     ' '    gray  Mare  1 8 ; 

1  4-year  old  Rone  do  SO. 

1  3  year  old  Colt  35 

1  2  years  old  Do  25. 

1  Swine  10. 

55  Bushels  of  Corn  in  the  Ear  21.83 

60  Barrels  Cider  50. 

Farm  of  Land  on  which  the  buildings  Stand 
estimated  to  contain  200  acres  with  all 
the  buildings  thereon  3700 

40  acres  of  Land  lying  in  N"  5  &  6  in  the 
first  Division  of  Settling  Lots  in  Blan- 
ford  160.00 

126  acres  of  Land  lying  in   No  9   in    Sd 

Blanford  370 

25  acres  of  D"  in  No.  27  in  D"  75 


5119.60 


EH  P.  Ashmun     (  Adm"" 

Russell  Atwater  j 
Justus  Ashmun  tilled  the  soil;  his  hands 
were  horny  with  labor;  his  hospitality  was 
abundant,  not  ostentatious.  As  for  liquid 
stock,  it  is  to  be  noted,  there  was  no  rum, 
no  brandy,  no  paraphernalia  for  hard  and 
general  drinking  except  the  beverage  which 
was  universally  served  "with  their  Vittles" 
in  the  farmers'  homes  of  the  day. 

S3 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

In  this  tavern  home  was  trained  EH  P., 
son  of  Justus  and  Keziah  Ashmun.  There 
were  other  children,  one  of  whom,  tradition 
says,  was  born  in  the  wilderness,  during  the 
flight  to  Blandford.  The  public  schools, 
at  the  time  of  Eli's  boyhood,  "were  in  feeble 
and  embarrassed  condition,  and  classical 
schools  between  these  and  college  did  not 
exist,  or  w^ere  so  few  and  far  between  as  not 
to  be  generally  accessible, — and  even  the 
colleges,  some  of  them,  were  broken  up, 
suspended,  or  greatly  crippled  in  their  means 
of  usefulness."*  So  it  came  to  pass. that, 
"till  the  age  of  19,  Mr.  Ashmun  remained, 
employed  in  various  domestic  labours,  and 
particularly  in  attendance  on  the  tavern. 
Till  this  time  he  had  received  little  more 
education  than  could  be  derived  from  a 
desultory  attendance  in  the  winter  on  the 
village  school,  and  the  occasional  gleanings 
of  a  leisure  hour.  His  father  was  a  man  of 
strong  and  well  informed  mind  and  liberal 
manners,  but  was  so  engrossed  by  his  various 
employments  as  to  be  precluded  from  paying 
any  great  degree  of  attention  to  the  education 

*    From  an  anonymous  tribute  to  Eli  P.  Ashmun,  by  a  pupil  in  his  office, 
and  published  in  the  Hampshire  Gazette,  after  Mr.  Ashmun's  death. 

54 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

of  his  children."*  When  he  was  a  lad,  he 
studied  for  a  time  with  a  clergyman  of  a 
neighboring  town,  then  entered  the  office  of 
Judge  Sedgwick,  with  whom  he  covered  a 
five-year  period  of  study  in  four  years.  He 
opened  an  office  in  his  own  town,  the  pioneer 
in  his  profession  in  Blandford.  His  place  of 
business  was  his  own  house,!  which  he  built 
a  little  below  the  tavern.  Mr.  Ashmun 
had  a  large  local  practice,  and  many  a  hard 
drive  he  took,  and  many  a  close  and  search- 
ing arraignment  of  transgressors  was  spoken 
from  his  lips  in  the  court  room  in  the  house 
of  Jedediah  Smith,  Esq.,  on  Beech  hill.  Here 
in  this  mountain  town  "the  public  atten- 
tion was  turned  to  him  as  possessing  un- 
common powers  of  mind  and  great  promise 
for  professional  distinction;  the  circle  of  his 
acquaintance  extended ;  his  professional  busi- 
ness increased,  and  in  a  very  few  years  he 
compassed  a  professional  practice  hardly 
second    in   extent   to   any    in    either   of   the 

*  From  an  article  in  the  Hampshire  Gazette,  1819,  following  the  death 
of  Eli  P.  Ashmun. 

t  Now  on  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Russell  road.  In  this  house  the 
late  Hon.  Samuel  Knox  was  born  and  died.  "Squire  Knox"  studied 
law  with  Mr.  Ashmun,  and  became  prom.inent  in  national  politics, 
being  intimately  associated  with  President  Lincoln  in  the  period 
of  the  v/ar,  when  he  was  the  only  republican  representative  in 
Congress  from  Missouri. 

55 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

counties  of  Hampshire  or  Berkshire."*  He 
possessed  remarkable  talents  for  discerning 
the  truth,  and  faithfully  made  use  of  them 
for  exposing  falsehood  and  chicane,  for  cross- 
examining  a  false  witness  until  the  perjurer 
was  glad  "to  compound  for  his  own  safety." 
In  1807  he  removed,  with  his  mother,  to 
Northampton.  "He  was  for  several  years  a 
member  of  both  houses  of  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature.  In  1816  he  was  chosen  a  coun- 
sellor, and  soon  after,  on  the  resignation  of 
Mr.  Gore,  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  He  performed  the  duties 
of  this  office  for  two  years,  when  his  increased 
fondness  for  domestic  life,  and  the  em- 
barrassment occasioned  by  a  severe  pecuniary 
loss,  induced  him  to  resign,  "f  He  was 
associated  in  the  Senate  with^, Harrison  Gray 
Otis.  He  died  prematurely  in  1819  of  a 
pulmonary  complaint,  a  disease  which  prob- 
ably hastened  his  indisposition  to  continue 
in  public  office,  which  office  he  filled  with 
great  dignity  and  ability. 

If   at    first    thought    it    may    seem   to    be 
wandering  wide  to    pursue  the  story  of  the 

*  Reminiscences  of  a  pupil, 
t  Hampshire  Gazette. 

56 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

Ashmun  family  from  father  to  grandson  in 
careers  which  look  back  only  somewhat  re- 
motely to  the  old  corner  tavern,  yet  certain 
traits  of  the  country  landlord  and  squire 
became  so  persistent  in  the  children  of  the 
next  two  generations,  that  to  learn  those 
marks  of  great  manhood  in  the  grandchildren 
is  to  know  the  grandsire  better. 

Eli  P.  Ashmun  had  two  sons,  John  Hooker 
and  George.  The  former,  a  man  of  rare 
talent  in  his  profession,  became  Royall  Pro- 
fessor of  Law  in  the  Dane  Law  School  of 
Harvard  University  in  1829,  a  position  which 
he  filled  with  such  distinguished  ability  until 
his  untimely  death  in  1833,  that  it  was 
thought  by  many  that  a  satisfactory  suc- 
cessor could  not  be  found  at  all.  Samuel 
Bowles  said  of  him  that  "he  possessed  one 
of  the  subtlest  intellects  that  was  ever 
devoted  to  the  disentanglement  of  legal 
questions,  and  his  epitaph,  written  by 
Charles  Chauncey  Emerson,  says  he  was 
fitted  to  teach  at  an  age  when  most  men  are 
only  beginning  to  learn."*  One  finds  again 
the  father  in  the  son  in  this  further  estimate 

*  Springfield  Republican,  1870. 

57 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

of  his  character  by  George  H.  Hillard:* 
"He  walked  in  the  steady  dayHght  of  truth; 
he  was  never  led  astray  b}^    phantoms  and 

unsubstantial    gleams He    detected 

at  once  sophistry,  loose  and  inconsequential 
reasoning,  fanciful  distinctions,  subtle  re- 
finements, and  all  the  arts  by  which  partisans 
deceive    others    and    often    themselves,    and 

treated    them   with    no    mercy His 

recitations  were  so  searching,  and  the  desire 
of  his  approbation  was  so  strong,  that  all, 
even  the  most  indolent,  if  they  pretended  to 
study  at  all,  studied  faithfully  and  learned 
accuratel3\"  One  requires  not  a  too  lively 
imagination,  seeing  the  same  sterling  qualities 
of  mind  and  character  in  the  father  and  son, 
to  be  persuaded  that  the  grandfather, — 
taverner  and  country  squire, — imparted  to 
these  worthy  men  some  initial  access  to 
their  priceless  gifts. 

Pursuant  of  this  thought,  it  is  in  order  to 
trace  in  bare  outline  the  character  and  career 
of  George  Ashmun,  younger  brother  of  John. 
He  studied  law  in  Northampton  with  his 
elder  brother,    and   became    partner   in   law 

*  Springfield  Republican  1870. 

58 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

with  Chief  Justice  Chapman  of  Massachusetts. 
He   practised    law    in    Springfield,    was   four 
times  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Legis- 
lature, and  Speaker  once,  was    twice  in  the 
Massachusetts  Senate  and   three  times  in  the 
National  House  of    Representatives,  was  the 
dignified    and    masterful    chairman    of     the 
republican      convention      that       nominated 
President   Lincoln.      "He   had   something   of 
the  great  power  of  logical  analysis  for  which 
his  brother,  the  professor,  was  distinguished; 
but  he  had  also  more  brilliant    qualities  of 
mind,   greater  power  of    expression,   a  more 
commanding  presence,  and  that  gift  of   per- 
sonal magnetism  which  gave  him    great  in- 
fluence with  courts  and  juries."*      After  Fort 
Sumter  was  fired  on,   in  a    memorable  con- 
ference by    night  with  Stephen  A.   Douglas, 
he    converted    that    great     lUinoisian  to    his 
country's  cause.      At  the    close  of  the  inter- 
view, "'Now,' said   Mr.   Ashmun,    'let   us   go 
up  to  the  White  House    and  talk  with  Mr. 
Lincoln.      I   want  you  to  say  to  him  what 
you  have  said  to    me,  and  then  I  want  the 
result    of     the    night's     deliberations    to    be 

*   Samuel  Bowles  in  the  Springfield  Republican  1870. 

59 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

telegraphed  to  the  country.'  ....  Then 
and  there  Mr.  Douglas  took  down  the  map 
and  planned  the  campaign.  Then  and  there 
he  gave  in,  most  eloquently  and  vehemently, 
his  adhesion  to  the  administration  and  the 
country.  Mr.  Ashmun  briefly  epitomized 
the  story  and  it  went  by  telegraph  that  night 
over  the  country  to  electrify  and  encourage 
every  patriot  on  the  morrow."*  He  was 
"a  king  among  men,  and  drew  around  him 
a  circle  of  devoted  and  loving  friends. "f 

Surely  the  corner  tavern  had  established 
its  right  to  be.  The  venerable  institution, 
after  Justus  Ashmun 's  death,  became  the 
widow's  dower.  Most  of  the  farm  property 
passed  into  other  hands,  but  she  had  posses- 
sion of  half  the  barns  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  road.  She  carried  on  the  license  in  her 
own  name  for  a  time.  Reuben,  perhaps  a 
son,  appears  to  have  conducted  it  for  several 
years,  t 

In  1807  the  tavern  property,  including 
forty-five  acres  of  land  on  both  sides  of  the 
road,  passed  over  to  Benjamin  Scott,  who 
kept  up  the  traditions  and  business  of    the 

*  Samuel  Bowles  in  the  Springfield  Republican  1870. 
t   Id. 

t  Titus  Ashmun,  whoever  he  was,  had  a  license  in  1798,  in  a  location  not 
indicated. 

60 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

house  with  good  prestige.  His  local  career 
began  in  a  remote  part  of  town,  where  we 
shall  presently  seek  him  out  again.  By  the 
time  he  had  become  well  established  in  the 
corner  tavern,  he  was  written  down  as 
"Merchant,"  having  already  advanced  from 
the  honorable  rank  of  "yoeman"  to  the 
commercially  distinct  occupation  of  "trader" 
— the  usual  path  of  the  old-time  innkeeper. 
He  was  not  for  many  years  in  the  village. 
In  1812  his  widow,  Margaret*,  was  in  posses- 
sion of  her  dower,  the  old  tavern  where  her 
husband  was  established  before  removing 
to  the  village,  and  she  appears  to  have  con- 
tinued the  business  there.  Some  of  her 
husband's  estate  was  sold  "at  public  vendue" 
from  this  same  corner  tavern  when  the  latter 
was  in  the  hands  of  Isaac  Lloyd.  That  was 
as  late  as  1826,  and  the  property  was  bid 
in  by  Henry  W.  Scott,  possibly  a  son.  Ser- 
gius  W.  Lloyd  was  proprietor  in  1823  and 
other  years. 

Little  has  been  saved  for  tradition  con- 
cerning this  old  stand  during  the  early  years 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  enough,  from 

*  Mrs.  Scott  is  recorded  as  having  a  license  in  1810. 

61 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

frequent  references  in  real  estate  convey- 
ances and  like  documents,  to  show  that  it 
was  keeping  on  its  way,  though  the  com- 
manding influence  of  a  continuing,  masterful 
personaiit}'^  like  that  of  Squire  Ashmun 
was  gone.  The  property  passed  from  one 
to  another  in  somewhat  rapid  succession. 
In  1811,  and  perhaps  for  several  years, 
Eleazer  Slocum  was  landlord,  and  under 
his  management  the  house  was  a  prominent 
one  among  the  numerous  taverns  of  the 
town.  Jabez  Goodell  was  proprietor  and 
owner  in  1813.  The  next  year  it  passed  to 
Asa  Smith,  who  was  a  squire,  and  for  many 
years  was  deputy  sheriff.  Many  a  warrant 
was  issued  by  him,  and  many  a  prosecution, 
whether  civil  or  criminal,  was  conducted 
by  him  with  the  assistance  of  the  local 
lawyers,  the  trial  being  had  in  the  court 
room  of  Jedediah  Smith  on  Beech  hill.  The 
deputy  sheriff  owned  for  a  time  the  house 
on  the  terrace,  built  by  the  Hatches,  opposite 
the  old  parsonage.  One  would  like  to  know 
more  about  this  dignitary,  but  documents 
other  than  those  referred  to  are  unrewarding. 
The  property  under  review  was   subject  to 

62 


THE  ASHMUNS  AND  THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

so  many  changes  during  this  period,  so  many 
divisions  and  subdivisions,  so  many  inherit- 
ances and  mortgages,  as  to  become  seriously 
involved.  Many  stages  on  through  lines 
were  passing  and  re-passing,  business  was 
pushing,  and  men  and  women  of  unrest  and 
prophetic  vision  were  looking  westward,  as 
States  and  territories  were  carved  out  of  the 
national  domain.  In  the  midst  of  it  the 
tavern  was  the  subject  of  enormous  com- 
petition. Profits  must  have  been  corres- 
pondingly divided.  So  mixed  became  the 
titles  to  the  corner  tavern,  or  so  heavy  were 
the  mortgages,  that  in  1828  a  transfer  was 
made  b}^  the  administrators  of  Isaac  Lloyd 
to  William  Watson  for  the  sum  of  two  dollars 
and  a  half,  subject  to  a  mortgage  to  General 
Alanson  Knox.  The  same  3'ear  the  property 
was  taken  over  by  Orrin  Sage,  a  prominent 
business  man  of  the  town,  vvho  figures 
actively  in  another  chapter  of  our  story. 

At  last  the  venerable  Mansion  House  of 
the  Ashmun  regime  was  torn  down,  and 
Squire  Sage  put  up  a  new  hotel  on  the  spot. 
This  new  improvement  produced  so  great 
an  impression  upon  the  town  that,  at  a  town 

63 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

meeting  held  May  10,  1830,  on  motion 
of  Milton  Boies,  the  following  resolution  was 
passed : 

"Whereas  Orrin  Sage  has  erected  a  hand- 
some and  commodious  house  on  the  grounds 
where  there  has  been  a  public  house  for 
nearly  seventy  years— and  whereas  the 
licensing  of  said  house  as  a  public  tavern 
would  very  much  accommodate  travellers, 
and  the  Inhabitants  of  the  town  it  being 
much  more  central  than  any  other  place — 
and  whereas  the  travel  and  business  through 
this  town  has  of  late  very  much  increased — 
Therefore— 

"Voted,  That,  in  our  opinion,  public  neces- 
sity and  convenience  require  that  Justin 
Loomis,  who  now  occupies  said  House,  should 
be  licensed  as  an  Innkeeper,"  etc.  In  pur- 
suance of  this  action  the  County  commis- 
sioners were  to  be  memorialized.  It  is  of 
record  that  Loomis  received  his  license  that 
year  and  the  next.  In  November  of  this 
year,  the  town  voted  that  the  post  office 
should  be  removed  to  Squire  Sage's  store  as 
more  central  and  convenient  than  any  other 
place.     The  store  was  opposite  the  tavern. 

64 


THE    ASHMUNS   AND  THEIR   SUCCESSORS 

Somewhat  later  the  business  of  the  tavern 
fell  into  the  hands  of    Samuel  Day,   whose 
administration    of    it    connects    with    remin- 
iscences of   those  now  living  or  but  recently 
dead.     The    late    Hon.    Samuel    Knox    bore 
witness   that    the   house   had   a   high   record 
for  hospitality,  but  on  an  exceptional  occasion 
was  able  to  cater    rather  inadequately  to  a 
transient  party  of  four.      One  of  the  party  was 
an  insane  patient  in  the  charge  of    officers 
who  were  conveying  him  to    the  hospital  at 
Worcester.      There  was  a  plate  on  the  table 
containing    but    three    cakes.     The    patient, 
not    entirely    bereft    of    wit,    surveying    the 
meagre  fare,  hastily  bowed   his  head,  and  in 
the    hearing    of     his    companions    returned 
thanks  on  this  wise : 

"Three  cakes,  and  us  four; 
Thank  the  Lord  there's  no  more." 

Judge  Knox  used  to  tell  another  story  of 
old  stage-coach  days.  Its  date  is  later  than 
that  of  our  na^rrative,  but  it  belongs  with  it, 
nevertheless,  so  far  removed  from  it  are 
we  now  by  means  of  steam  railroads,  elec- 
tricity, the  depletion  of  the  country  and  the 
wild    inflation    of    the    city.      However   near 

65 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

to  the  biographical  experience  of  elders  still 
in  the  flesh,  the  story  is  of  another  world 
whose  door  is  fast  closing  to  all  living  mem- 
ories, a  world  that  shall  never  again  be. 
Mr.  Knox  had  occasion  in  his  young  manhood 
to  go  from  his  native  town  to  Chicago.  Of 
course  he  went  by  stage  nearly  all,  if  not 
quite  all,  the  way.  On  the  trip  west  he  fell 
in  with  a  drunken  driver,  of  whom  he  was 
sorely  minded  to  make  complaint  to  head- 
quarters, when  he  discovered  that  this  Jehu 
was  an  old  pupil  of  his.  The  young  man 
was  fulfilling  the  promise  of  his  boyhood, 
as  the  lad  had  broken  up  two  schools  before 
Mr.  Knox  took  charge  as  successor  to  the 
routed  pedagogues.  The  new  teacher  found 
early  occasion  to  request  the  3'outh  to  desist 
from  certain  offensive  conduct,  but  the  boy 
kept  right  on.  Taking  out  his  watch,  Mr. 
Knox  said,  "I  wish  you  to  discontinue  that 
action  for  the  good  order  of  the  school,  and 
I  will  give  you  two  minutes  to  remove  your- 
self from  the  school,  or  I  shall  remove  you." 
The  boy  began  to  cry  and  to  promise  refor- 
mation. He  was  allowed  to  stay.  One  day 
the   music    teacher    came    in    and    began    to 

66 


THE    ASHMUNS    AND    THEIR  SUCCESSORS 

criticise  the  master's  method,  whereupon 
this  boy  left  his  seat,  walked  up  to  the  music 

teacher   and   said,    "You   shut    your 

mouth,  or  I'll  put  you  out."  This  one-time 
school  teacher  of  Blandford,  won  to  relenting 
by  appealing  memories  of  other  da3^s,  made 
no  complaint  of  his  drunken  driver. 

We  have  gone  far  afield.  The  corner 
tavern  was  no  mere  provincial  caravansary. 
Its  field  was  the  world. 


67 


Chapter  Four 

The  Old  Post  Road;  or  the 
Berkshire   Road 


"^HE  east-and-west  road  through  the 
town  was  known  under  various  desig- 
nations. In  the  earUer  days  it  was 
called  "the  Sheffield  road,"  or,  "the 
Great  Road  leading  to  Housatunnock. "  It 
was  sometimes  spoken  of  as  "the  post  road." 
In  the  earliest  times  it  was  the  only  road 
dignified  by  the  postman's  presence.  By 
1770  it  received  the  designation  of  "the 
Great  Barrington  road,"  and  shortty  after, 
"the  Albany  road."  Sometimes  it  was  de- 
scribed as  "the  road  to  Stockbridge."  Occa- 
sionally, in  Rev^olutionary  times,  it  would 
be  referred  to  as  "the  High  Way  from  Blan- 
ford  Street  to  y^  Green  woods  road;"  but 
that,  like  "the  Tunock  road,"  was  a  local 
designation.  At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  and  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
it  commonly  went  b}^  the  name  of  "the 
County   road,"   never   as   the   village   street, 


House  of  Reuben  Boise,  Esq.,  Berkshire  Road 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

or  the  town  street,  for  it  was  not  that,  though 
it  is  to-day.  The  road  itself,  in  its  changing 
names,  reflects  something  of  its  checkered 
and  interesting  history. 

It  entered  the  town  after  the  weary  climb 
over  Russell  mountain,  to  adopt  a  modern 
designation,  and  ran  over  the  crest  of  Birch 
hill,  in  the  southeasterly  quarter  of  the 
town's  territory,  a  section  now  almost  wholly 
given  over  to  woodland  and  pasture,  but 
well  populated  in  the  early  years.  Traces 
of  many  an  old  cellar  hole  and  here  and 
there  the  deep  scar  of  an  abandoned  road 
are  discernible.  Somewhere  near  the  foot 
of  Birch  hill  was  the  tavern  of  Dea.  John 
Knox,  who  began  the  business  of  innkeeper 
in  1757,  continuing  to  1771,  and  as  retailer 
for  two  years  longer  still.  This  town  worthy 
had  emigrated  from  Glasgow,  Scotland,  his 
native  city,  with  his  older  brothers  William 
and  Adam,  when  only  ten  years  old.*  His 
house  was  on  the  high  road  of  travel  east  and 

*  It  is  impossible  to  locate  John  Knox's  tavern.  His  son  Elijah  built  the 
fine  large  house  recently  owned  by  E.  W.  Bennett,  a  lineal  descendant, 
and  now  in  possession  of  S.  H.  Peebles,  on  the  old  turnpike  road  to 
Westrield.  John  Knox  owned  that  lot,  and  there  was  an  old  cellar 
hole  just  below  the  present  house,  which  was  built  in  1784.  But 
he  also  owned  real  estate  farther  down  the  road,  at  or  near  the 
more  recent  "gate  house,"  in  the  present  Wyman  neighborhood. 
John  Knox's  "Homelot"  was  there  in  1767.  It  would  seem  that 
his  house  must  have  been  in  that  immediate  vicinity. 

69 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

west  through  the  heart  of  the  town.  In  the 
Old  Farmer's  Almanack  of  the  year  1802, 
there  is  a  stage  and  tavern  Ust  which  mentions 
"Knox"  as  the  stopping  place  on  the  line 
in  the  town  of  Blandford.  It  is  a  little 
puzzling,  as  there  is  no  Knox  named  in  the 
official  list  of  Blandford  licenses  for  that 
year.  But  this  is  only  one  instance  with 
many  others  where  the  innholder's  or  re- 
tailer's business  was  carried  on  extensively 
without  any  present  evidence,  in  extant 
official  records,  of  a  license.  That  was  pre- 
eminently true  of  Squire  Jedediah  Smith 
and  Col.  Samuel  Sloper.  The  almanac  list 
just  cited  is  here  reproduced  by  way  of 
interesting  comparison  with  one  on  a  previous 
page: 

TO  ALBANY  AND  QUEBEC. 
Springfield  Parsons  96 

Over  the  river  to  Ely's  2 

Westfield  Clap  7 

ditto  Emerson  3 

Blandford  Knox  6 

Greenwood  Rowley  6 

ditto  Emerson  3 

Tyringham  Chad  wick  7 

Great  Barrington  Root  9 

70 


Whiting 

1 

Hicks 

4 

Cowles 

4 

Mackinstry 

3 

Ray 

3 

Haggaboom 

3 

Goofe 

4 

Voubarg 

1 

Fitch 

2 

THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

ditto 
Egremont 
Nobletown 

ditto 

ditto 
Stonehole 
Kinderhook 

ditto 

ditto 
Albany  Ferry  8 

After  about  a  mile  of  gentle  rise  has  been 
accomplished  up  toward  the  modern  village  of 
Blandford,  a  trim  little  white  cottage  is  seen, 
surrounded  by  verandas,  and  backed  by  a  larger 
L.  It  is  a  modern  summer  cottage.*  Until 
quite  recently  it  stood  simply  for  what  it  used  to 
be,  without  L,  innocent  of  verandas,  devoid  of 
paint,  homely,  individual,  humble.  It  stands 
on  the  easterly  rim  of  the  village,  just  under 
the  brow  of  the  elevation  on  which  the  latter 
rests,  and  the  modern  cottages  on  Sunset  rock 
look  down  upon  it.  It  occupies  the  lotf 
which  John  Boies  bought  of  Adam  Knox  in 
1749.     Thence t    the   estate   passed  over     to 

*    Belonging  to  Myron  L.  Henry,  of  Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y. 

t  No.  46  of  the  first  division.  The  street  cuts  diagonally  across  the  home 
lots  of  the  second  division,  and  the  easterly  tier  of  the  first  division 
lots,  then  turns,  by  the  school  house  just  below  the  meeting  house, 
so  as  to  pass  down  "Tannery  hill"  between  lots  8  and  9. 

X  In  1760  Dr.  John  White  bought  or  essayed  to  buy  it.  He  mortgaged  it 
back  to  the  owner,  to  whom  it  reverted  again  the  next  year. 

71 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

his  son,  John  Boies,  Jr.,  in  1769.  There  is  a 
strong  tradition  among  the  descendants  to 
the  effect  that  John  Boies  kept  a  tavern  in 
this  httle  house.  His  hcense  is  not  of  record, 
neither  is  there  any  other  documentary- 
evidence,  unless  a  reference  in  one  of  the 
deeds  should  be  accounted  such,  which 
refers  to  the  building  as  "the  house  commonly 
called  by  the  name  of  the  John  Boies  house," 
a  rather  unusual  manner  of  describing  a 
strictly  private  house.  This  residence  of 
John  Boies  was  very  unassuming,  standing 
only  a  story  and  a  half  high.  Probably  a 
bed  and  a  meal  could  be  furnished  to  a 
passing  guest,  but,  as  always,  the  liquid 
refreshment  to  be  had  constituted  the  prin- 
cipal reason  for  the  public  character  of  the 
house,  if  such  it  had. 

Mention  of  other  taverns  in  this  imme- 
diate vicinity  is  left  for  a  succeeding  chapter, 
as  our  present  design  is  not  to  linger  in  the 
village,  but  to  pass  over  the  famous  old 
highway  which  so  early  pierced  the  wilder- 
ness to  open  to  civilization  this  western 
section  of  a  developing  commonwealth.  The 
corner   tavern    below    the    meeting-house   is 

72 


Fro«t  ST.mwAV.  »ND  P..LOR  CvpBO.,»».  Reub.s  Bo.s.'s  Ho™ 
Showing  <a>  o„.half  of  ^-W'.Snr-fi/"^  "■'  "™*  ^  ■"'""' 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

forging  on  its  way  of  fams.  Between  it  and 
the  old  burying-ground,  dipping  down  the 
hill  deep  into  the  cross  valleys  of  Little  river 
watershed  the  road  invites  the  wayfarer 
to  Pixley's  and  the  new  western  towns. 

Echoes  of  the  prodigious  importance  of 
this  thoroughfare,  and  of  the  extreme  diffi- 
culty and  cost  of  construction  and  main- 
tenance, come  down  to  us  along  through  the 
years.  Spite  of  all,  through  the  midst  of 
poverty  and  war,  possibly  also  through 
occasional  neglect,  the  fathers  were  now 
and  then  involved  in  trouble.  "The  grand 
jurors  of  our  Sovereign  Lord  y^  King" — so 
read  the  records  of  the  court  of  general 
sessions  for  the  county  of  old  Hampshire, 
in  the  year  1756 — "do  on  their  Oaths  present 
the  Town  of  Blandford  for  not  repairing 
the  Highway — The  said  Town  appeared  by 
John  Boice  one  of  y^  Selectmen  of  said  Town 
and  on  their  behalf  pleaded  guilty  to  y^ 
Presentment.  The  Court  referred  the  cer- 
tification to  y^  next  Court."  The  next  year 
the  town  was  fined  for  the  offense  aforesaid 
one  shilling  and  cost.  John  Boies  may  have 
pleaded  the  court's  clemency   on  account  of 

73 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

the  struggles  and  poverty  of  the  town.  At 
any  rate  consideration  was  given  at  the 
same  time  that  it  was  forcibly  signified  that 
in  anv  event  the  thoroughfares  must  be 
kept  open.  It  was  not  this  town  alone  which 
felt  the  burden  to  be  too  heav}^  to  carry. 
On  June  14,  1762,  the  General  Court  of  the 
Province  granted  a  petition  of  Eldad  Taylor, 
Esq.,  in  behalf  of  township  No.  4,  asking 
for  relief  from  burdensome  taxes.  "They 
had  been  there,"  he  said,  "but  little  more 
than  four  Years  when  the  tax  was  laid, 
during  which  time  they  have  been  a  great  part 
employed  in  making  and  cleaning  Roads 
not  only  through  their  own  Town,  but 
through  the  Country  to  Blandford." 

Along  this  high  road  passed  those  troopers 
whom  Rev.  James  Morton  entertained  to 
the  scandal  of  his  people.  Up  and  down 
these  steep  and  rocky  declivities  were  drawn 
Washington's  cannon,  when  Gen.  Henry  Knox 
dismantled  Fort  Ticonderoga  to  make  effec- 
tive the  siege  of  Boston,  and  this  was  the 
sorrowful  way  of  some  of  the  Hessians  on 
their  involuntary  trip  to  Boston  after  their 
capture.     This,  too,  was  the  way  to  Louden, 

74 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

which  bulks  so  large  in  the  imaginations  of 
so  many  discontented  citizens  of  the  town 
after  the  Revolution,  while  over  and  along 
these  hills  and  dales  traveled  thousands 
who  came  from  the  eastern  towns  to  fill  up  the 
population  of  the  new  towns  to  the  west- 
ward. In  business,  comfort,  and  pleasure 
the  tavern  was  no  insignificant  chapter  in 
the  experience  of  the  motley  throngs  and 
scattering  wayfarers. 

Says  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland,*  "The  first  road, 
or  path,  through  the  townf  was  made  by 
General  Amherst  and  his  arniA^  in  1759,  on 
his  way  from  Boston  to  Albany.  On  this 
passage  he  staid  one  night  each  in  West- 
field,  Blandford,  Sandisfield  on  Noble  Hill, 
and  Monterey  at  the  Brewer  place.  For 
many  years  after  the  Revolution,  this  road 
was  called  'The  great  Road  from  Boston  to 
Albany,'  and  was  the  only  road  between 
those  places  crossing  directly  the  county  of 
Berkshire.  Burgoyne's  army,  after  the  sur- 
render at  Stillwater,  passed  over  the  road 
on  their  way  to  Boston,  and  remained  three 

•  History  of  Western  Massachusetts,  Vol-  II,  pp.  540-541. 
t  Of  Louden. 


75 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

days  at  Otis,    where  the}^  buried  one  of  the 
soldiers." 

Gen.  Knox  told  in  a  diary  his  story  of  the 
Ticonderoga  expedition  in  part  on  this  wise. 
Its  object  was  "to  transfer  the  serviceable 
portions  of  the  cannon  and  other  ordnance 
captured  in  that  fortress  to  the  camp  of 
Washington  where  it  was  so  greatly  needed 
for  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  siege 
of  Boston."*  The  project  was  Gen.  Knox's 
own,  and  its  success  won  for  him  the  favor 
of  Washington,  whose  Secretary  of  War  he 
became.       The     diary     continues:        "Fort 

George,    Dec.    17,    1775 It   is   not 

easy  to  conceive  the  difficulties  we  have  had 
in  getting  (the  cannon)  over  the  lake  owing 
to  the  advanced  season  of  the  year  &  con- 
trary winds.  Three  days  ago  it  was  very 
uncertain  whether  we  should  have  gotten 
them  until  next  spring;  but  now  please  God 
they  must  go.  I  have  had  made  42  exceed- 
ing strong  sleds,  &  have  provided  80  yoke 
of  oxen  to  drag  them  as  far  as  Springfield 
when  I  shall  get  fresh  cattle  to  carry  them 
to  camp. 

*New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  Vol.  30,  p.  321. 

76 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

"The  route  will  be  from  here  to  Kinder- 
hook,  from  thence   to  Great  Barrington  and 

down   to   Springfield I   expect   to 

begin  to  move  them  to  Saratoga  on  Wednes- 
day or  Thursday  next  trusting  that  between 
this  &  then  we  shall  have  a  fine  fall  of  snow 
which  will  enable  us  to  proceed  further  & 
make  the  carriage  easy." 

Jan.  5,  1776.  Albany.  The  snow  tarried. 
Instead,  there  was  "a  cruel  thaw."  "Jan. 
10th.  Reach 'd  No.  1,  after  having  climbed 
mountains  from  which  we  might  almost 
have  seen  all  the  Kingdoms  of  the  Earth. 

"11th.  Went  12  miles  thro'  the  Green 
Woods  to  Blandford.  It  appear'd  to  me 
almost  a  miracle  that  people  with  heavy 
loads  should  be  able  to  get  up  and  down 
such  Hills  as  we  have,  with  anything  of 
heavy  loads.  11th.  At  Blandford  we  over- 
took the  first  division  who  had  tarried  here 
untill  w^e  came  up,  and  refus'd  going  any 
further,  on  acco"  that  there  was  no  snow 
beyond  five  or  six  miles  further  in  which 
space  there  was  the  tremendous  Glasgow 
or  Westfield  mountain  to  go  down.  But 
after  about  three   hours  persuasion,  I  hiring 

77 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

two   teams  of  oxen,  they  agreed  to  go." 

By  Jan.  24  Gen.  Knox  reported  in  person 
to  his  chief,  the  cannon  and  mortars  were 
quickly  placed,  the  position  of  the  enemy 
was  rendered  speedily  untenable,  and  Boston 
was  evacuated. 

Two  receipts  are  appended : 
"Receipts 

"Fort  George,  Dec.  16,  1775. 
"Rec''  of  Henry  Knox  twenty  dollars  which  Cap'. 
John  Johnson  paid  to  different  Carters  for  the  use 
of  their  Cattle,  in  dragging  Cannon  from  The  Fort 
of  Ticonderoga  to  the  North  Landing  of  Lake  George 
^10.  8  W"'  Brown  J'.    Lieut* 

"Blandford,  Jany  13,    1776 
"Rec*^   of   Henry   Knox   eighteen   shillings     lawful 
money  for  carrying  a  Cannon    weighing  24C.3   from 
this  Town  to  Westfield  being  1 1  Miles  18  s. 

Solomon  Brown" 

Whether  Blandford  was  a  provincial  town, 
whether  the  taverns  had  anything  to  do, 
whether  the  tap-rooms  afforded  opportunity 
for  spirited  and  timely  topics  of  conversa- 
tion, whether  the  youth  of  the  town  were 
in  touch  with  what  was  going  on,  let  these 
facts  and  citations  give  answer. 

Gen.  Knox  was  not   the  only  army  of^cer 

*  This  i«  a  Blandford  name. 

78 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

of  the  Revolutionary  forces  that  had  to  en- 
counter the  "tremendous  Glasgow  or  West- 
field  mountain."  Sept.  24,  1777,  Gen.  Heath 
called  the  attention  of  the  State  Legislature  to 
"the  almost  constant  passing  and  re-passing 
of  carriages  to  and  from  the  northern  Army 
with  provisions  and  Military  Stores"  over  a 
well  nigh  impassable  road.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  make  repairs.  A  petition 
had  been  sent  in  by  "Inhabitants  of  Berk- 
shire and  others  representing  that  the 
publick  Road,  leading  from  Westfield,  through 
that  rough  and  but  little  cultivated  Tract  of 
Land,  well  known  by  the  name  of  Green 
Woods,  to  Great  Barrington  is  almost  im- 
passable for  want  of  Reparation;  that  the 
exigencies  of  War,  the  Situation  of  our 
Continental  Army  on  the  Hudson's  River 
and  the  present  State  of  our  foreign  Trade 
render  it  necessary  that  a  very  great  Part  of 
the  Supplies  of  the  Provision  of  the  Inhabi- 
tants of  the  State  consisting  of  foreign  Com- 
modities as  well  as  Provisions  of  flour  and 
other  Necessaries  remitted  to  Boston  and 
other  Sea  Ports  within  this  State  should  be 
transported     there, — whereby     a    prodigious 

79 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

additional  Expense  is  incurred  as  well  to 
the  Continent  as  to  Individuals,  in  Teams  and 
Carriages,  dashing  in  pieces  of  Casks  and 
other  vessels,  occasioning  the  great  Damage 
or  total  Destruction  of  their  valluable  Con- 
tents; and  as  the  Expense  of  repairing  said 
Road  so  as  to  make  the  same  feasable  would 
greatly  exceed  the  abilities  of  those  People 
who  live  near  and  who  alone  are  by  Law 
obliged  to  repair  the  same,  your  Petitioners  are 
of  Opinion  that  should  your  Honors  grant  a 
Lottery  for  the  Purpose  of  raising  a  sufficient 
Sum  of  Money  for  repairing  said  Road,  a 
sufficient  number  of  People,  from  a  true 
Spirit  of  Patriotism,  conscious  of  the  Utility 
of  the  Measure  would  speedily  and  cheer- 
fully contribvite  a  Sum  adequate  to  this 
important  Purpose,"  etc. 

This  petition  was  signed  at  Great  Barring- 
ton  by  James  Bull  and  twenty-seven  others. 
Lotteries  were  a  favorite  means  of  raising 
money  in  those  days,  both  for  public  im- 
provements of  this  sort  and  for  educational 
and  benevolent  purposes  generally.  The 
sittings  for  these  lotteries  were  held  at  the 
taverns,    where   the   people   of    the   country 

80 


Berkshire  Road,  at  foot  of  Step  Hill 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

flocked  to  take  their  questionable  chances. 
It  sometimes  developed  that  exception  was 
taken  to  the  method,  under  the  guise  of 
zeal  for  purer  morals,  when  politics  or  other 
objection  to  the  scheme  was  the  real  one. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  enterprise  of  road- 
building  and  road-repairing  was  subject  of 
a  good  deal  of  pulling  and  hauling  other 
than  that  of  material  freight.  Rival  routes 
were  laid  in  evidence.  As  in  the  lay-out, 
construction  and  operation  of  modern  rail- 
roads, so  in  these  days  and  a  little  later  in 
the  turnpike  period,  roads  were  opened  for 
the  purpose  of  attracting  traffic  away  from 
an  already  established  line  to  a  new  one. 
That  transpired  in  Blandford  and  in  adjoin- 
ing towns.  Fortunes  were  made  and  unmade 
by  such  scheming  and  building.  This  par- 
ticular piece  of  business  became  a  hot-bed 
of  discussion  and  passion.  There  were  three 
rival  routes  to  be  adjudicated  upon.  Then 
it  appeared  that  it  was  both  immoral  and 
inexpedient  to  raise  money  by  so  question- 
able a  means  as  a  lottery,  unless  it  should  be 
to  meet  the  strenuous  necessities  of  one  road 
at    the    most;  that    the    repairing    of    three 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

roads  would  invite  all  sorts  of   political  jobs 
with  their  resulting  demoralization. 

The  order  passed  for  the  repair  of  three 
roads.  The  sum  authorized  to  be  raised 
was  not  to  exceed  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  that  "with  a  deduction  of 
twenty  per  cent,  upon  the  amount  of  the 
tickets  sold."  The  "South  road"  was  des- 
cribed as  running  from  Josiah  Brewer's  to 
the  "crotch  of  the  road  near  Blandford  meet- 
ing-house," evidently  the  junction  of  the 
town  street  and  the  Housatonic  road. 
The  "middle  road"*  was  designated  as 
extending  "from  half  a  mile  west  of  Tag- 
gard's,  so  called,  to  Becket  line."  That 
would  appear  to  be  the  road  still  called  in 
town  by  the  name  of  the  Green  woods  road, 
and  will  be  the  subject  of  a  later  chapter. 
The  committee  to  receive  and  expend  the 
money  were  Trueman  Wheeler,  Esq.,  Major 
Warham  Parks,  Mr.  Jonathan  Brewster,  Capt. 
Eli  Root,  and  Capt.  Norton.  Parks  was, 
or  was  soon  to  become,  a  Blandford  man,  of 
large  affairs  and  influence,  and  withal  a 
keeper  of  a  tavern. 

*  The  third  road  does  not  concern  this  story. 

82 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

The  path  which  was  marked  out  over  this 
route  in  1735  could  have  been  in  no  true 
sense  a  road — only  a  bridle-path.  The  first 
lay-out  which  I  have  been  able  to  find  record 
of  is  that  by  the  county  of  old  Hampshire, 
of  date,  Aug.  27,  1754.  It  is  entitled,  a 
road  "from  y^  Town  of  Westfield  thro  Blan- 
ford  &  No  1  to  y'  North  Parish  in  Sheffield," 
etc.  It  appears  to  have  been  innocent  of 
any  surveyor's  accounting.  For  that  reason, 
doubtless,  it  is  far  more  intelligible  and 
interesting  to  the  ordinary  reader,  though 
more  of  detail  in  the  description  would  now 
be  appreciated.  This  became  known  as  the 
Berkshire  road. 

After  climbing  the  mountain  substantially 
as  the  fathers  climbed  it  at  the  beginning, 
the  record  runs:  "The  Road  from  y^  East 
side  of  Westfield  mountain  to  Blandford 
bounds  to  be  8  rods  wide  from  y^  aforesaid 
line  we  continued  in  y^  main  as  y^  road  is 
now  Trod  until  we  come  South  of  Blandford 
meeting  house."  That  road  can  even  now 
easily  be  traced  through  the  woods  up  and 
over  Birch  hill.  William  H.  Gibbs  is  un- 
doubtedly right  when  he  says,*   speaking  of 

*  Historical  Address,  pp.  46-47. 

83 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

the  earliest  years  of  the  town's  Hfe,  "Roads 
in  those  days  were  hardly  worthy  of  the 
name,  and  in  fact  were  nearly  impassable. 
It  is  said  that  two  men  sank  down  and  ex- 
pired on  their  way  to  Great  Barrington. 
For  many  years  the  only  way  of  transporting 
heavy  merchandise  was  upon  a  dray." 

This  artery  of  commerce  and  good  neigh- 
borhood, after  climbing  the  hill  from  the 
valley  at  Springfield  and  Westfield,  rises  to 
an  elevation  of  1460  feet  at  the  ten  acres 
where  stood  the  proprietors'  school-house 
and  the  corner  tavern,  with  the  old  burying- 
ground  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street. 
The  elevation  at  East  Otis,  which  lies  just 
across  Blandford's  western  boundary,  is  1500 
feet.  But  a  basin,  almost  a  chasm,  lies 
between,  with  dip  to  the  southeast,  which 
thrusts  the  waters  of  the  Westfield  Little 
river  system  rapidly  down  into  the  valley. 
The  highway  cuts  athwart  these  brooks  and 
ridges  at  right  angles,  up  and  down  its 
devious  and  difficult  way.  The  road  no 
sooner  gets  well  by  the  old  burying-ground 
than  the  fall  begins.  Passing  the  site  of 
the    now    lamented    Watson     house,    where 

84 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

John  Watson  was  soon  to  have  his  tannery, 
and  where,  after  the  Revolution,  he  carried 
on  a  retailer's  license  for  a  year  or  two, 
down  what  is  now  called,  after  his  industry, 
Tannery  hill,  in  the  course  of  its  first  mile 
of  descent  the  road  sinks  to  the  level  of  1100 
feet,  where  it  crosses  a  little  brook,  then 
rises  over  a  knoll  to  descend  still  deeper  again  in 
thenexthalf  mile  to  1000  feet.  Here  a  bridge 
spans  the  pond  brook,  which  conveys  the 
waters  of  North  meadow  and  Long  ponds 
through  North  Blandford  down  to  the  river. 
The  commissioners  describe  their  path- 
finding  from  the  town  street  down  and  over 
these  rugged  slopes  according  to  the  ap- 
proved signs  of  their  day.  "Leaving  ye 
Town  street*  to  y^  Southward,"  they  say, 
"we  steered  a  Westerly  Course  thro  ye  land 
of  the  ReV^  Mr.  Morton  &  Roberts  Henry 
y^  Road  to  be  4  Rods  wide  between  these 
men  and  to  be  Taken  proportionably  from 
each."  The  lay-out  goes  on  to  mention 
the  stream  which  empties  the  ponds:  "We 
still  kept  a  westerl}^  Course  by  a  line  of 
marked  Trees  till  we  came  in  to  y*  main  path 

*  This  means  that  what  is  now  the  West  Granville  road  was  then  called 
"ye  Town  street"  in  its  southward  extension. 

85 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

leading  to  No  1  near  a  large  Brook  from 
Westfield  Bounds  thro  Blandford  to  said 
Brook  y^  Road  to  be  6  Rods  wide  except 
between  Morton  and  Henr}^  aforesaid;  From 
y*  aforesaid  Brook  we  continued  our  Course 
in  y^  trodden  path  till  we  came  to  y^  steep 
Hill  so  called."  A  little  before  this  hill  is 
reached,  on  the  first  summit  above  the  brook, 
commanding  an  extensive  outlook,  stands 
the  large,  square,  two-story  house  built  by 
Squire  Reuben  Boies  just  after  the  Revo- 
lution. He  had  become  a  large  landholder 
and  a  man  of  position  and  influence  in  the 
town.  His  much  humbler  and  earlier  home 
was  a  couple  of  miles  to  the  north,  a  house 
still  well  preserved  as  L  to  a  larger  and  more 
recent  structure. 

He  had  an  'innholder's  license  in  1781  and 
again  in  1784,  when  his  new^  house  was  built. 
In  all  probability  the  indicated  period  is 
short  of  the  facts.  His  new  home  was  well 
adapted  to  entertaining,  and  he  probably 
found  a  way  to  put  his  dwelling  to  large  use. 

Enter  the  wide  front  door.  Before  you 
rises  a  stairway  leading  to  a  landing  midway 
of  the  two  floors,  where  the  stairway  divides 

86 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

and  brings  you  to  either  side  of  the  upper 
hall  according  to  your  fancy.  In  this 
spacious  upper  story  there  were  the  bed 
rooms,  uniting — or  dividing — two  of  which  was 
a  swinging  partition  suspended  from  strong 
hinges.  This  was  for  the  purpose  of  fur- 
nishing a  dance  hall  of  due  proportions  by 
suspending  the  swinging  partition  by  means 
of  hooks  to  the  ceiling.  Down  stairs,  in  the 
parlor,  is  a  cupboard  stored  with  ancient 
china  and  glass  ware,  including  the  ancestral 
flip  mug  of  glass,  imported  from  Ireland 
by  the  original  Boises.  The  shelves  in  the 
upper  part  have  that  peculiar,  compound 
curvature  of  outline,  with  a  swell  front  in 
the  center,  which  is  so  choice  a  relic  of  the 
ancient  days.  The  spacious  kitchen  bears 
witness  to  the  hospitality  of  the  builder  and 
proprietor.  Oil  portraits  look  down  from 
the  walls  and  bid  you  remember  the  days 
of  laughter,  but  especially  the  days  of  silence. 
Then  there  is  the  old  double  chair,  firm  and 
straight  and  elegant  of  its  kind,  the  first 
double  wagon  seat — so  it  is  said — used  in 
town,  an  article  of  furniture  seemingly  for 
alternate   use  at  home  and  on  the  highway. 

87 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

The  road  on  which  the  windows  of  this 
house  look  out  is  that  whose  martial  history- 
has  already  been  recounted.  Burgoyne's 
fellow  prisoners  passed  along  here,  and  the 
modest  claim  is  put  forth  that  not  in  this 
house,  but  in  a  predecessor  on  the  spot,  Gen. 
Washington  spent  a  night. 

Squire  Reuben  Boise  was  a  man  of   sub- 
stantial position  and  large  influence  in  town. 
He  was  for  many  years  town  clerk.      When 
he  finally    relinquished    his    task,    the  town' 
passed  (in  1818)  this  resolution : 

"Voted  unanimously  that  the  thanks  of 
the  Town  be  presented  to  Reuben  Boise 
Esq''  for  the  long  and  faithful  Services  he 
has  rendered  them  up  to  the  present 
advanced  period  of  his  life,  and  that  he  is 
entitled  to  the  best  wishes  of  his  Fellow 
Townsmen  so  long  as  a  wise  and  holy 
providence  may  be  pleased  to  continue  him 
with  us." 

From  Squire  Boise's  old  mansion  the  road 
to  the  westward  dips  a  little  into  a  quiet 
dale,  then  abruptly  mounts  to  another  and 
higher  eminence.  It  is  the  hill  which  the 
county  commissioners  of    1754  called  "steep 

88 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

hill."  The  name  which  they  have  helped 
to  preserve  still  clings  to  it  in  the  corrupted 
form  of  "Step  hill,"  which  corruption  is  now 
the  inheritance  of  generations.  In  less  than 
a  mile  of  continued  westerly  progress  to  this 
point,  three  hundred  feet  in  elevation  have 
been  recovered.  Here  and  along  the  diverg- 
ing road  to  the  north  leading  down  into  North 
Blandford  a  majestic  panorama  of  hill  and 
valley  expands  eastward  and  northward  and 
southward.  To  the  eastward,  extending  for 
miles  along  the  sky  line,  one  sees  the  length- 
ened plateau  chosen  by  the  fathers  for  their 
town  street.  The  meeting-house  of  1822 
stands  up  in  full  height,  from  the  ground 
to  the  weather  vane  on  its  steeple,  white 
and  glistening  in  the  western  sun,  fronted 
by  the  old  pines  where  the  ancients  hitched 
their  horses,  while  just  on  the  hither  slope 
in  crowded  tier  on  tier  are  seen  the  white 
marble  slabs  of  the  cemetery  representing 
the  same  generation  which  built  the  sanc- 
tuary that  overlooks  the  graves  of  both 
yards,  and  those  that  have  followed  in  the 
last  journeyings  of  life.  Thence,  northward, 
stand  silhouetted  against  the  sky  the  modern 

89 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

homes  and  barns  of  the  old  street,  with  a  few 
surviving  representatives  of  the  ancient  days, 
not  excepting  a  tavern  or  two. 

On  this  eminence  let  us  tarry.  On  the 
north  side  of  the  road  is  the  snug  old  home 
of  Asa  Culver  and  his  wife,  built,  probably, 
by  William  Longhead*  shortly  after  the 
Revolution,  next  owned  and  occupied  by 
Isaac  Longhead,  who,  as  we  have  seen, 
later  owned  and  ran  the  corner  tavern  in 
the  Centre.  The  old  big  chimney  has  been 
topped  off  above  the  roof  by  a  ridiculous 
little  one  of  modern  type,  but  otherwise  the 
house  is  the  same  spacious,  broad  story- 
and-a-half  building,  with  roof  sloping  to 
the  street,  front  door  in  the  front  centre 
opening  into  a  little  hall  whence  a  crooked 
stairway  mounts  upward  to  the  chambers 
under  the  roof,  one  spacious  room  on  either 
side,  and  in  the  parlor  a  cupboard  like  that 
in  Squire  Boise's.  A  friendly  grape,  with 
woodbine  alternating,  covers  the  trellis  all 
along  the  front  side,  affording  a  leafy  and 
fragrant  bower  in  summer,  and  allowing  all 
the  genial  warmth  of  the  kindly  winter  sun 
to  pour  in  at  the  windows  during  the  months 

*  Lloyd,  as  now  spelled. 

90 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

of  cold.  Opposite  is  a  beautiful  modern 
cottage.  By  a  happy  conceit  the  two  dwel- 
lings have  received  the  soubriquets,  respec- 
tively, of  December  and  May.  The  new 
cottage  is  built  on  the  site  of  an  ancient 
tavern,  probabh^  erected  by  James  Moore 
before  the  close  of  the  Revolution. 

From  this  height  the  county  road  pushes 
along  past  Blair  pond,  originally  called 
Twenty-mile  pond,  over  a  somewhat  less 
rugged  country,  to  the  western  boundary 
of  the  town  near  to  its  southwestern  corner. 
Returning  now  to  our  guides  of  1754:  "then 
steering  Southwardly  by  a  line  of  marked 
Trees  ab'  16  Rods  then  northwardly  by  a 
line  of  marked  Trees  we  came  into  Y  afore- 
said path  till  we  came  to  y^  20  Mile  Pond 
so  called  then  turning  Northwardly  by  s*^ 
Pond  we  kept  a  line  of  2  marked  Trees  till 
we  came  into  y^  old  path*  at  y^  Right  hand 
we  kept  a  line  of  marked  Trees  till  we  came 
to  Carriers  house  w''  stands  on  y'  aforesd 
path" — this  was  Pixley's — "from  thence  as 
y*  path  is  now  Trod  to  Rickleys  heap  of 
stones,  so  called  then  by  a  line  of  Trees  markt 
on  3  sides  for  y'  north  side  of  y"  Road,  partly 

*  V.  Appendix  III. 

91 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

in  and  partly  out  of  the  old  path  till  we 
came  to  Jno  Brewers  Improvement  in  No  1 
The  road  from  y^  aforesd  brook  to  y^  top 
of  Nobles  hill  8  Rods  from  Top  of  said  hill 
on  y^  East  to  y^  Top  on  y^  West  to  Farm- 
ington  River  15  Rods  from  thence  to  No  1 
8  Rods." 

This  western  side  of  the  town  was  once 
populous,  its  farms  wide-stretching  over  up- 
land, meadow,  and  forest.  They  were  pro- 
ductive too,  and  prosperity  abounded.  The 
schools  were  thronged,  the  taverns  were  not 
isolated,  and  the  traffic  of  a  State  passed 
along. 

In  the  old  plan  of  the  township,  one-half 
in  the  farm  lot  numbered  7,  and  one-half 
in  8,  there  is  located  a  pond,  about  the  size 
of  Blair  pond.  None  is  there  now,  but  instead, 
a  swamp,  known  as  "Great  swamp,"  filled  with 
alders,  red  ash  and  black  spruce.  A  road  crosses 
it,  a  section  of  a  once  lively  thoroughfare.* 
With  the  exception  of  one  comer  of  its 
territory,  there  is  no  modern  deed  covering 
any  part  of  the  area  of    this  swamp.     Yet 

*  It  is  now  uncertain  just  where,  through  this  section,  the  old  Housatonic 
road  ran  It  is  hardly  to  be  believed  that  it  crossed  this  pond  or 
swamp.     But  it  was  not  far  off. 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

it  was  in  the  hands  of  private  ownership 
forty  years  after  the  thoroughfare  was 
opened,  for  it  was  in  part  the  farm  of  Ben- 
jamin Scott  before  ever  he  aspired  to  run 
the  old  corner  tavern. 

It  could  not  have  been  so  very  many 
years  after  the  work  of  the  commissioners 
of  1754  was  done,  that  a  new  road*  was 
opened  from  Blair  pond  to  No.  1,  or  Louden, 
line,  northerly  of  the  first  one.  This  more 
northerly  road  itself  is  very  old,  and  corres- 
ponds with  the  dotted  line  laid  down  on  the 
old  map,  a  fact  which  would  suggest  that 
originally  this  dotted  line  did  not  belong 
in  the  plan  at  all,  being  added  after  the 
newer  road  was  cut  through.  This  thorough- 
fare passes  near  to  the  old  Watson  house 
by  the  pond,  directly  past  the  Blair  pond 
school-house,  or  No.  7,  up  through  "the 
narrows"  and  on  by  the  ancient  farm  house 
of  Mrs.  Joseph  Shepard,  whose  late  husband 
was  grandson  of  Jonathan  Shepard,  the 
purchaser  of  Pixley's  farm,  after  its  checkered 
career  in  connection  with  the  tavern  had 
come  to  its  inglorious  end.  Tradition  has 
it  that  this  house  was    itself  a  tavern;  and 

*   V.  Appendix  III. 

93 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

its  sumptuous  proportions,  with  large  front 
and  end  doors,  invite  one  to  believe  it,  but 
there  is  no  trace  of  any  documentary  evidence 
to  support  the  tradition. 

A  network  of  roads  converges  in  or  very 
near  to  the  present  settlement  known  as 
East  Otis,  just  over  the  western  boundary 
of  the  township  of  Blandford,  and  near  to 
the  southwest  corner  of  the  latter.  One  of 
these,  cutting  that  corner,  is  the  old  Hartford 
and  Albany  stage-road,  otherwise  known 
as  the  road  from  Louden  to  Granville,  cross- 
ing also  a  section  of  the  township  of  Tolland. 
It  is  a  dreary  waste,  and  off  the  old  post-road. 
But  the  farm  of  Benjamin  Scott  was  on 
both  these  roads,  though  his  house  happened 
to  be  on  the  Hartford  and  Albany  line.  We 
will  tarry  here  for  a  little.  Just  to  the 
south  of  the  great  swamp  stands  the  lonely 
wreck  of  the  tavern.*  This  is  on  the  thorough- 
fare referred  to  by  President  Timothy  D wight, 
in  his  story  of  extensive  New  England  travel 
just  about  the  time  when  Scott's  tavern  was 
doing  business.     He  speaks  of  the  Farmington 

*  Better  known  now  by  a  few  as  the  Bearing  place.  It  is  so  distant  from 
town  as  to  be  supposed  by  some  to  lie  within  the  territory  of  Tol- 
land. 


94 


THE    OLD    POST    ROAD 

river  running  through  Becket,  Bethlehem, 
Louden,  Granville,  Hartland,  Barkhampstead, 
New  Hartford,  Canton,  Burlington, 
Bristol  and  Farmington,  and  says,  with 
some  spice  of  exaggeration  as  to  grade: 
"Along  its  banks  a  turnpike  road  extends 
from  Farmington  to  Becket  in  Massachu- 
setts; and  thence  through  Lenox  and  Pitts- 
field  to  Albany;  with  a  rise  so  gradual  as  to 
ascend  the  summit  of  the  Green  Mountains 
in  a  manner  absolutely  imperceptible  to  the 
traveller."* 

Scott  began  making  real  estate  purchases 
in  this  section  as  early  as  1799,  amassing  a 
considerable  holding.  Parts  of  his  farm  in- 
cluded the  "Red  Ash  Swamp"  and  the 
"Black  Spruce  Swamp."  He  may  have  had 
a  store,  and  carried  on  miscellaneous  barter. 
At  any  rate,  so  little  trading  of  any  kind  was 
done  in  cash  in  those  days,  and  mortgages 
were  taken  and  foreclosed  so  often  by  inn- 
keepers to  make  themselves  good,  that  the 
landlord  was  almost  of  necessity  a  "trader," 
as  Scott  was,  whether  in  personal  or  real 
property.     There  is  just  the   fragment  of  an 

*  Pp.  298.  299. 

95 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

account  which  Scott  had  for  two  years  with 
Jedediah  Smith,  Esq.,  which  in  part  illus- 
trates the  point : 

Benjamin  Scott  Debtor 
December  12:1807. 

to    taking    the    Deposition    of    Francis 

Hamilton  &  Rachel  Lloyd  $1 

June    8:   1808    to  Execution  Benjn  Scott  vs 

Stephen  Pelton  .  25 

11  to  Execution  Benjn  Scott  vs 

Zebede  Waterman  .25 

13  to  two  Bushel  of  potatoes  .50 

November  to    an    alias    Benjn    Scott    vs 

Zebede  Waterman  .25 

December  23      to  a  Concession  Note  Shubael 

Upsan  to  Benjamin  Scott  .41 

Aside  from  the  fact,  already  mentioned 
in  a  previous  chapter,  that  Benjamin  Scott's 
widow  became  proprietor  of  the  house  for  a 
time  after  his  death,  this  is  all  that  the  past 
seems  willing  to  give  up  concerning  this 
wa3^side  inn.  It  is  to-da}^  a  picturesque  ruin, 
but  will  soon  be  no  more.  One  goes  freely 
in,  looks  up  to  the  empty  cupboards  of  the 
tap-room,  sees  bricks  and  mortar  heaped 
in  unsightly  masses  in  the  ornamented  fire- 
places, lingers  under  the  shade  of  the  friendly 
trees,    tries   to   repair   in   vision    the   wrecks 

96 


THE  OLD  POST  ROAD 

of  time  and  hear  the  bugle  of  the  approach- 
ing stage  from  Hartford  or  Albany,  to 
listen  to  the  speech  of  guests  and  hangers-on 
and  smell  the  savory  odors  from  the  kitchen 
where  the  meal  is  preparing,  and  to  hear 
the  clink  of  the  glasses  at  the  bar,  where 
tongues  are  loosened,  and,  alas!  where 
mortgages  are  started  that  prophesy  the 
coming  foreclosure  as  in  the  above  account. 
The  silent  house  for  the  most  part  holds  its 
own  secrets.  It  is  not  a  place  to  stay  in  long. 
It  is  too  silent  and  too  lonely. 


97 


Chapter  Five 

The   Street    and  the    Old 
Aristocracy 


THE  town  street  par  excellence  was  the 
road  which  divided  the  east  and  west 
tiers  of  the  first  division  settling  lots. 
It  was  "the  Great  and  General  Rhoad," 
"the  town  street  road,". etc.  From  the  meet- 
ing-house it  ran  north,  eleven  and  one-half 
degrees  west,  in  a  bee  line  for  two  and  one- 
third  miles.  At  the  easterly  end  of  the 
twenty-third  lot,  it  swerved  off  northwest- 
wardl^^  crossing  several  other  settling  lots 
diagonally,  passing  through  what  was  very 
early  called  the  "North  end,"  and  thence 
over  North  meadow  brook  and  on  into 
Becket — in  other  words,  through  the  Green 
woods.  In  1761  this  was  made  a  county 
road,  on  petition  of  Eldad  Taylor  of  West- 
field,  asking  for  a  road  from  Blandford  to 
Number  4,  and  thence  to  Pontoosuck. 

Northward  of  the  point  of  divergence  just 
mentioned,   was    a   road   passing  on   to   the 


THE   STREET   AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

northward  somewhat  crookedly  as  it  ran 
in  and  out  among  the  hills,  to  the  end  of  the 
home  lots  of  the  first  division,  and  separating 
that  section  of  the  first  division  lots  in  a 
sort  of  zig-zag  way.  Long  before  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century  this  northerly 
road  became  known,  after  its  pristine  im- 
portance had  declined,  as  "the  old  town 
road."  At  the  extreme  northern  end  were 
the  first,  small  division,  or  boys'  lots.  From 
eminences  here  and  there  are  such  far- 
stretching  views  to  the  north,  of  valley  and 
mountain,  as  to  merit  the  name  which  in 
recent  years  it  has  received — Beulah  land. 

Just  above  the  meeting-house,  on  or  near 
lot  number  ten,  in  which  is  located  the 
cemetery,  was  Robert  Black's  tavern  in 
1748.  It  stood  where  now  is  the  cemetery. 
Black  was  an  original  settler  and  drew 
that  lot.  How  long  he  kept  his  tavern  it 
is  hard  to  say,  the  facts  so  persistently  outdo 
the  records  of  the  county  court.  Robert 
and  David  Black  were  selling  lots  back 
and  forth  in  1768  and  thereabout.  It  was 
on  the  tavern  site  that  Rev.  Joseph  Patrick 
bought  and   made  his  home  during  his  brief 

99 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

and  unhappy  ministry;  so  that  the  place 
was  not  run  continuously  as  a  tavern.  Black 
took  his  turn  in  the  traditional  entertain- 
ments of  town  meetings,  when  the  March 
winds  had  sufficiently  chilled  the  bones  of 
the  yeomanry  in  the  stoveless  meeting-house. 
Doubtless,  too,  Sunday  worshippers  found 
genial  warmth  there  as  well  as  at  Pease's 
or  Ashmun's.  Robert  Black  furthermore  did 
his  part  in  fulfilling  the  function  of  care- 
taker in  "keeping  the  meeting  house  kee  & 
opening  &  Shuting  y^  Doors  &  sweeping  y* 
house  for  y^  year  1769,"  as  well  as  other 
years. 

A  consecutive  history  of  this  tavern  site  is 
not  possible.  It  passed  to  Robert  Pease, 
of  Somers,  Connecticut,  in  1782;  thence, 
two  years  later,  to  his  two  sons,  Abner  and 
Alpheus,  "with  all  buildings."  Contempo- 
rary with  Justus  Ashmun's  comer  tavern 
it  became  known  as  Pease's  tavern,  thus 
continuing  the  name  by  which  the  older 
house  first  won  its  popularity.  Alpheus  seems 
to  have  dropped  out,  and  the  house  became 
Capt.  Abner  Pease's.  The  record  of  his 
license    covers    the     years    of    1793    to    1799 

100 


THE   STREET  AND   THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

inclusive,  but  the  stand  doubtless  got  its  repu- 
tation from  a  much  longer  term  of  service  than 
this  would  indicate.  The  house  is  still  standing, 
long  since   degraded   to  a  rear-end  building.* 

This  tavern  must  have  been  for  many 
long  years  a  close  competitor  to  the  one  on 
the  corner.  One  has  only  to  make  a  patient 
study  of  the  mortgage  deeds  and  foreclosures 
of  the  time  to  be  assured  that  many  a  man 
drank  up  his  homestead  and  brought  his 
family  to  impoverishment  at  this  tavern. 
In  this  respect,  indeed,  the  tavern  was  like 
most  places  of  its  kind,  the  corner  tavern 
under  Justus  Ashmun  having  been  a  marked 
exception.  Incidents  of  gaiety,  days  and 
nights  of  good  cheer  and  abundant  hospi- 
tality, passing  shows  and  fireside  chats  there 
were,  of  course,  all  along  the  years.  These 
have  gone  into  silence  and  forgetfulness, 
while  the  careful  registry  of  deeds  alone  re- 
mains to  preserve  the  story  of  business 
failures  and  domestic  sorrows  whose  secret 
lay  in  the  tap-room  and  the  too  imperious 
thirst  of  the  old  inn's  multitudinous  patrons. 

Capt.    Pease  became   a    lieutenant   in  the 

*  Now  belonging  to  Mrs.  Rubena    Delehanty,  and  lately  of  the  estate  of 
A.  J.  Smith,  deceased. 

101 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

later  5^ears  of  the  century,  served  his  church 
repeatedly  as  tithing-man,  and  his  town  as 
selectman  in  1798,  1799  and  1801.  His 
daughter  married  Orrin  Sage,  who  was  doing 
business  in  what  is  now  the  street.  Before 
that  happy  event  was  consummated,  and 
while  Mr.  Sage's  premises  were  a  welcome 
place  of  frequent  resort  for  the  father-in-law 
to  be,  the  captain  was  more  approved  to 
the  merchant  than  to  that  gentleman's  hired 
man,  who  was  an  Irishman  and  resented 
what  he  conceived  to  be  an  undue  meddle- 
someness on  the  part  of  the  visitor.  One 
day,  in  a  rage  of  impatience,  the  Irishman, 
by  way  of  contemptuous  remark  about  the 
old  gentleman,  dubbed  him  "Mortal  Fuddy," 
a  nick-name  which  clung  to  that  individual 
the  rest  of  his  days.  For  3^ears  he  rode  a 
gray  horse,  and  never  went  abroad  except 
on  horseback.  One  day  some  of  the  mis- 
chievous bo3''s  of  the  village  loosened  the 
horse's  girth  enough  to  insert  a  brown  chestnut 
burr  under  the  saddle.  When  the  captain 
mounted,  he  discovered  an  unwonted  vigor 
in  the  beast,  who  threw  him  to  the  ground 
with  despatch.     "Tut,   tut!"   said  he;   "this 

102 


THE   STREET  AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

horse     never     acted     like     that    before." 

Just  north  of  Pease's  tavern  and  the  lot 
of  seventy-six  acres  on  which  it  stood  was 
lot  11,  drawn  originally  by  Matthew  Blair. 
It  was  later  called  the  Sloper  lot,  sometimes 
the  west  Sloper  lot,  to  distinguish  it  from 
one  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  and  it 
is  still  referred  to  by  that  name.  Matthew 
Blair  was  a  surveyor,  and  drew  some  of  the 
earlier  plans  of  the  town.  He  was  an  elder, 
or  deacon,  in  the  church,  and  was  habitually 
entrusted  with  the  most  important  and 
delicate  duties  in  both  church  and  town. 
His  license  was  not  an  innholder's,  but  a 
retailer's,  yet  he  seems  to  have  kept  a  house 
for  the  entertainment  of  guests.  As  in  so 
many  other  instances,  one  becomes  sus- 
picious of  the  adequacy  of  the  license  records 
to  cover  the  case  of  Matthew  Blair,  who  is 
listed  only  for  the  years  1760,  '61  and  '62. 
Before  Rev.  James  Morton's  settlement,  that 
gentleman  boarded  with  Matthew  Blair,  and 
kept  his  horse  there.  This  deacon  was  for 
years  the  town's  trusty  and  efficient  servant 
in  dealing  with  the  proprietors.  Many  a 
long   horseback   ride  to  Boston   he  took  on 

103 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

legal  and  financial  errands  in  this  connection 
and  in  forwarding  the  Province  tax,  as  well 
also  as  in  attending  presbytery  as  repre- 
sentative of  the  church.  He  was  a  much 
traveled  man  for  those  times.  In  one  of 
the  intervals  between  the  furious  conten- 
tions of  minister  and  people,  when  extensive 
repairs  were  going  on  at  the  meeting-house, 
and  "mr  Kattlen"  was  in  so  long  demand 
as  an  artisan,  this  same  "matthew  Blier" 
took  his  turn  with  "mr  morton"  the  minister 
and  "mr  pees"  the  innkeeper  at  "Billet in" 
the  gentleman,  "man  and  hors  keeping  and 
other  things  for  the  pulpeat."  He  and  his 
neighbor  and  competitor,  Robert  Black,  with 
Robert  Henry,  were  assigned  the  duty  of 
establishing  the  bounds  of  the  ten-acre  lot 
and  burying  ground,  in  1761.  He  very 
early  built  a  saw-mill  down  in  the  second 
division  "Eastward  from  the  metting  House." 
The  B lairs  were  bom  to  run  a  mill.  Matthew 
Blair,  Jr.,  succeeded  his  father,  and  other 
heirs  divided  the  estate  after  him.  For  this 
story  they  do  not  interest  us. 

But  Samuel  Sloper,  who   appears  to  have 
come  into  the  lot  numbered  11,  as  a  tenant, 

104 


THE   STREET   AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

as  early  as  1772,  and  who  bought  the  lot  m 
1786,  does  interest  us  very  much,  for  a  more 
picturesque  personality  never  lived  in  Bland- 
ford  town  than  he. 

The  official  records  do  not  reveal  a  license 
for  Samuel  Sloper  before  the  year  1778.  It 
was  an  innholder's  that  year,  and  the  same 
in  1781  and  '84.  In  1787  it  was  a  retailer's. 
He  must  have  had  a  license  of  some  sort 
through  the  3'ears,  beginning  much  earlier 
and  continuing  much  later  than  those  dates. 
His  ledger,  rare  old  survivor  of  Blandford's 
cruel  conflagrations,  bears  date  of  1773,  but 
contains  items  of  sale  in  1772.  It  must 
represent  business  done  on  the  old  Blair 
homestead  as  far  back  as  this  latter  cited 
date.  The  Blairs  appear  to  have  transferred 
their  interests  and  activities  to  the  mill 
and  otherwheres  after  the  deacon's  death. 

The  old  ledger  and  other  scattering  records, 
together  with  traditions  still  alive,  throw  a 
vivid  and  picturesque  light  over  this  unique 
and  withal  leading  character  of  Revolutionary 
and  later  times  in  this  goodly  town.  We 
know  what  he  did,  the  goods  he  sold,  the 
neighbors  he  lived    among,  the  influence  he 

105 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

wielded.  A  more  versatile  man  the  town 
never  contained,  though  he  ma}-  not  have 
been  a  man  of  highest  ability  and  culture. 
Whether  in  peace  or  war,  in  church  or  town, 
in  affairs  local  or  in  concerns  national,  he 
was  bustling,  breezy  and  necessary.  He 
never  amassed  a  fortune,  though  he  handled 
considerable  property.  He  got  himself  into 
hot  water  more  than  once,  became  financially 
pinched,  was  probably  too  easy-going,  too 
open-hearted  for  overmuch  getting  and  keep- 
ing. Withal  this  landlord,  store-keeper, 
soldier,  ecclesiastic  and  general  factotum 
adds  immenseh^  to  the  substance  and  tone 
color  of  the  life  of  the  town  in  the  last  third 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  His  Revolu- 
tionary war  record  was  most  honorable, 
and  must  have  stirred  the  pride  of  the  citizens, 
who  delighted  to  promote  him  to  places  of 
honor  in  peace  as  well  as  in  war.  In  the 
intervals  of  his  military  service,  he  would 
come  home  and  moderate  a  town  meeting, 
serve  a  term  as  selectman,  or  consult  the 
interests  of  his  compatriots  on  the  committee 
of  inspection  and  safety.  Then  he  would 
don  his  sword  and  be   off  again  to  the  war. 

106 


THE   STREET  AND  THE   OLD  ARISTOCRACY 

He  was  such  a  man  as  to  leave   behind  him 
a  legacy  of  traditions,  still  current. 

To  one  of  his  soldiers,  who  had  won  the 
fine  nom  de  plume  of  "Pun'kin,"  he  called 
out,  one  day  on  the  march,  "There,  Pun'kin, 
is  a  good  fat  pig.  I'll  hold  the  kittle,  but 
don't  you  touch  the  pig!"  The  colonel 
looked  the  other  way  while  the  pig  was 
caught  and  put  into  the  kettle,  and  the 
colonel  never  saw  it  again  alive.  Such  law- 
lessness doubtless  made  him  more  popular 
with  his  soldiers  than  with  the  countryside. 
How  many  complaints  were  lodged  at  head- 
quarters against  the  marauding  habits  of 
his  company,  or  regiment,  is  not  of  record, 
nor  the  number  of  such  seizures  which  he 
never  saw.  One  incident  more  has  survived, 
however.  Complaint  was  made  that  his 
regiment  had  stolen  a  lot  of  honey.  He 
did  not  think  that  any  of  his  men  would  do 
such  a  thing  as  to  steal  honey,  but  the 
aggrieved  were  granted  the  liberty  to  make 
diligent  search  in  camj),  the  colonel  mean- 
time warily  accompanying  them.  The  honey 
was  in  a  keg  in  one  of  the  tents.  When  the 
searching   party    were    approaching    danger- 

107 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

ously  near  to  it,  the  colonel  cried  out  to  his 
men,  "Here,  boys,  look  out  for  your  soap 
grease!"  The  visitors  were  not  after  that 
kind  of  ingredient,  and  the  honey  was  not 
found. 

When  the  war  was  over.  Col.  Sloper  rep- 
resented his  town  at  the  General  Court. 
He  was  one  of  the  town  committee  appointed 
to  review  the  State  constitution  when  that 
was  before  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  and 
was  a  delegate  at  a  county  congress.  When 
Murrayfield  was  in  trouble,  "Capt  Sloper  of 
Blandford,"  with  two  other  men  from  Worth- 
ington  and  Norwich,  was  appointed  on  a  com- 
mittee of  mediation.  He  was  town  clerk 
for  a  period  of  years. 

Samuel  Sloper  was  not  arrayed  in  king's 
garments.  His  inventory,  made  in  1803, 
contains  no  mention  of  sword,  not  even  a 
gun,  nor  buckles,  nor  silver  ornament  of  any 
kind,  nor  silken  stockings;  only  a  hat  valued 
at  thirty  cents,  one  linen  shirt  at  fort}^  "1 
pair  old  velvet  breeches,"  worth  fifty  cents, 
"1  fancy  cotton  vest,"  one  dollar,  "1  striped 
nankin  do,"  thirty-three  cents,  "1  pair  buff 
breeches,"  a  dollar  and  a  half,  and   one  pair 

108 


THE   STREET  AND   THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

of  woolen  hose.  That  was  all.  He  must 
have  been  a  man  of  simplicity.  His  house- 
hold goods  were  plain  affairs  too,  and  seem 
to  indicate  that  he  had  given  up  the  business 
of  public  host  before  his  demise,  since  he  died 
possessed  of  but  two  bedsteads  and  four 
dining  chairs,  though  his  kitchen  boasted 
nine  chairs — the  neighbors  used  to  come  in 
and  occup}'  them  and  chat  together,  perhaps. 
There  were  only  a  half  dozen  knives  and 
forks,  and  other  paraphernalia  of  dining 
room  and  kitchen  to  correspond. 

He  took  the  war  census  of  the  town  in  1776. 
He  was  one  of  the  men  to  distribute  the  salt 
which  the  state  sent  out  to  the  towns  during 
the  stress  of  the  war.  The  genial  and  jolly 
soul  must  have  loved  peace  more  than  w^ar, 
and  bonhommie  more  than  filthy  lucre.  No 
mortgages  and  foreclosures,  with  their  entail 
of  woe  and  broken  homes,  such  as  burden 
the  accounts  of  most  of  the  old  landlords, 
mar  the  pages  of  Samuel  Sloper's  ledger; 
neither  is  there  any  trace  of  such  transac- 
tions with  Sloper  as  plaintiff  in  the  papers 
of  Squire  Smith.  There  was  rum  enough 
to   float   a   navy.      But   no   sheriff's   notices 

109 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

ever  followed  up  the  book-keeping  of  this 
old  worthy.  Where  the  records  are  abundant, 
as  is  the  case  here,  silence  would  seem  to 
become  positive  evidence. 

Confirmatory  of  this  conclusion  is  a  page 
of  entries  against  one  Thomas  Lathrop. 
He  had  bought  a  3^ard  or  two  of  "Persian," 
a  tea  kettle  and  tow  cloth,  "Shoes,  Bees- 
wax and  Sugar,"  saving  items  in  an  account 
which  was  sadly  overweighted  with  charges 
for  rum  and  sugar — a  more  sinister  com- 
bination that  bees- wax  and  sugar.  The 
list  is  long;  too  long,  evidently,  in  the  mind 
of  the  colonel,  who  inscribed  in  diagonal 
lines  underneath  it  all  this  legend;  "don't 
get  no  more  rum  til  you  pa}''  for  what  you 
have  got."  The  account  was  presently 
closed,  both  as  to  cash  and  rum. 

Colonel  Sloper  made  his  mark  on  the 
pages  of  the  town  history  in  many  wa3^s, 
and  his  house  and  store  must  have  been, 
for  years,  a  resort  for  all  lovers  of  good 
stories,  while  withal  there  was  resident  in 
the  old  soldier's  bosom  the  spirit  of  the 
pioneer.  His  interest  in  the  promotion  of 
the  settlement  of  the  West  belongs  not  here. 

no 


THE   STREET  AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

Suffice  it  to  say  that  his  best  gift  to  that 
enterprise  was  his  son  and  namesake.  He  him- 
self died  possessed  of  personal  and  real  estate, 
when  the  encumbrances  were  deducted,  valued 
at  only  eight  hundred  dollars.  He  owned  the  lot 
opposite  his  house,  where  are  two  modern 
cottages  for  summer  residence.*  This  lot 
passed,  after  his  death,  to  Solomon  Noble. 

If  the  truth  were  all  told  about  the  house 
of  Samuel  Sloper,  as  of  many  another  man 
who  carried  on  an  innholder's  license,  prob- 
ably it  would  be  learned  that  there  was  little 
real  public  entertaining  except  that  which 
pertained  to  the  wet  goods.  "Mr.  Levi 
Pease  Boston"  boarded  his  son  there  two 
days  in  the  week  for  a  period.  John  Waldo 
Wood,  who  had  owned  the  lot  to  the  south 
of  Sloper's  for  a  little  time,  boarded  at  the 
Sloper  house  during  nine  months  of  the 
3''ear  1780,  the  bill  b3ing  about  ons-half 
paid  by  a  barrel  of  New  England  rum.  Col. 
William  Shepard  also  boarded  his  son  Noah 
there,  and  returned  in  payment  "Rie"  at 
three  shillings  per  bushel,  1786-'89. 

The  liquor  dispensed  at  Col.  Sloper's  store, 

*  Belonging  to  W.  H.  Dexter,  of  Springfield. 

1  1  1 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

or  tavern,  was  no  small  part  of  the  doings 
of  those  eventful  years.  It  was  largely  sold 
in  quantity,  to  be  taken  home,  but  was 
also  mixed  and  drunk  on  the  premises. 
Rum  and  brandy  were  sold  by  the  gallon 
or  quart,  and  flip  by  the  mug.  "Sider"  was 
made  on  Sloper's  premises,  or  farm,  some- 
where. It  is  a  fair  question  if  brandy, 
at  least,  were  not  distilled  there  also.  •  Flip 
was  a  most  popular  drink,  and  was  entered 
continuously  upon  the  ledger.  The  same 
was  true  to  a  less  extent  of  Jedediah  Smith, 
and  the  beverage  would  be  in  evidence  in 
every  other  taverner's  day-book  or  ledger, 
if  it  were  only  extant.  Mrs.  Earle  says:* 
"Flip  was  a  dearly  loved  drink  of  colonial 
times,  far  more  popular  in  America  than  in 
England,  much  different  in  concoction  in 
America  than  in  England,  and  much  superior 
in  America — a  truly  American  drink.  .  .  . 
American  flip  was  made  in  a  great  pewter 
mug  or  earthen  pitcher  filled  two-thirds  full 
of  strong  beer;  sweetened  with  sugar, 
molasses  or  dried  pumpkin,  according  to 
individual  taste  or  capabilities;  and  flavored 

*   Stage  Coach  and  Tavern  Days,  pp.  108-9. 

112 


(a)     Capt.  Abner  Pease's  Tavern 

(middle  of  group  of  buildings) 

(b)     The  Business  Centre  in  the  New  Village,  and  the 

Luther  Laflin  Elm 


THE   STREET   AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

with  a  'dash' — about  a  gill — of  New  England 
rum.  Into  this  mixture  was  thrust  and 
stirred  a  red-hot  loggerhead,  made  of  iron 
and  shaped  like  a  poker,  and  the  seething 
iron  made  the  liquor  foam  and  bubble  and 
mantle  high,  and  gave  it  the  burnt,  bitter 
taste  so  dearly  loved." 

In  itself  alone  Samuel  Sloper's  ledger  is 
abundant  corroboration  of  the  spirit  of  lines 
which  Edward  Field  has  quoted  in  the  pages 
of  his  book:* 

"Landlord,  to  thy  bar  room  skip, 

Make  it  a  foaming  mug  of  flip — 

Make  it  of  our  country's  staple, 

Rum,  New  England  sugar  maple, 

Beer  that's  brewed  from  hops  and  Pumpkins, 

Grateful  to  the  thirsty  Bumpkins. 

Hark!     I  hear  the  poker  sizzle. 

And  o'er  the  mug  the  liquor  drizzle. 

And  against  the  earthen  mug 

I  hear  the  wooden  spoon's  cheerful  dub. 

I  see  thee,  landlord,  taste  the  flip; 

And  fling  thy  cud  from  under  lip, 

Then  pour  more  rum,  the  bottle  stopping. 

Stir  it  again  and  say  it's  topping; 

Come,  quickly  bring  the  humming  liquor, 

Richer  than  ale  of  British  vicar. 

Better  than  Usquebaugh  Hibernian, 

*  The  Colonial  Tavern. 

113 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Or  than  Flacus'  famed  Falernian, 

More  potent,  healthy,  racy,  frisky, 

Than  Holland's  gin  or  Georgia's  whisky. 

Come,  make  a  ring  about  the  fire 

And  hand  the  mug  unto  the  squire ; 

Here,  Deacon,  take  the  elbow  chair, 

And  Corporal  Cuke,  do  you  sit  there; 

You  take  the  dye  tub,  you  the  churn, 

And  I'll  the  double  corner  turn. 

See  the  fomenting  liquor  rise 

And  bum  their  cheeks  and  close  their  eyes; 

See  the  sidling  mug  incline. 

Hear  them  curse  their  dull  divine 

Who  on  Sunday  dared  to  rail 

Against  B-'s  flip  or  Downer's  ale. 

Quick!  landlord,  fly  and  bring  another, 

And  Deacon  H.  shall  pay  for  'tother; 

Ensign  and  I  the  third  will  share — 

It's  due  on  swop  for  the  pyeball  mare." 

According  to  every  evidence,  this  is  all 
realistic  of  the  spirit  of  the  day,  unless  it 
should  be  said  that  in  Blandford,  at  least 
until  the  Revolution,  little  fault  could  be 
found  with  the  minister  such  as  was  found 
in  the  doggerel. 

The  old  Revolutionary  hero  kept  some- 
thing of  a  stable,  and  pastured  horses  and 
stock.     Solomon  Noble,  blacksmith  and  inn- 


114 


THE   STREET  AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

keeper,  went  often  to  the  Sloper  place  for 
horse  and  wagon  for  trips  to  Louden,  Wil- 
liamstown  and  other  places,  besides  putting 
out  his  stock  in  the  Sloper  pasture.  For 
the  munificent  reward  of  three  shillings,  the 
old  veteran,  in  1788,  moved  the  family  of 
David  Knox,  by  means  of  "Teame  &  Boy." 
Now  and  then  he  turned  his  hand  to  odd 
jobs.  He  carted  and  laid  out  John  Waldo 
Wood's  flax  one  season  for  seven  pounds 
ten  shillings.  He  seems  to  have  made  shoes 
and  other  garments  for  his  family.  At  any 
rate  he  did  it  for  others.  For  Enos  Loomis's 
young  son,  who  was  bound  out  to  him,  he 
did  on  this  wise:  "Caping  your  Sons  vShocs, 
1-3;"  "one  Bottle  Green  Coat  full  trimed 
and  made  for  moses,"  seven  shillings.  He 
made  several  shirts  and  a  frock  for  the  Martin 
Leonard  Company. 

The  number  and  kind  of  things  which  this 
old  veteran  and  dabster  did  make  an  astonish- 
ing list.  He  was  surgeon- in-ordinary  to  the 
parish  of  Blandford,  and  this  long  before 
ever  he  had  accumulated  an  arm}^  experience. 
Veterinary  too  he  was.  The  account  is 
peppered  over  with  charges  for  the  treat- 

115 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

ment  of  young  horses  for  the  ordinary  pur- 
poses of  the  farm  and  road.  In  the  account 
of  EHphalet  Thompson,  in  the  year  1772, 
along  with  "frying  Pann,"  tea  kettle  and 
"1  Pr  Sizers,"  is  the  charge  "To  Seting  your 
boys  rist,"  twelve  shillings.  James  Sinnet, 
in  1785,  became  indebted  to  "Seting  your 
knee  and  Dressings,"  and  "to  Sundri  Dress- 
ings," four  and  three  shillings  respectively. 

Colonel  Sloper  died  in  1802.  Thirteen 
years  before,  an  infant  daughter  was  laid 
away,  and  the  two  rest  side  by  side  without 
other  company,  in  the  family  burying  place. 
Did  his  widow  go  to  Ohio  with  Samiuel 
Sloper 's  son  and  namesake?  The  convivi- 
ality of  the  old  tavern  and  country  store 
then,  is  only  part  of  the  story.  The  boy 
learned  something  else  than  to  hang  round 
the  tap-room  and  drain  the  sugar  from  the 
bottom  of  the  mugs.  At  last  the  old  store 
was  shut.  The  tavern  was  closed.  But 
there  went  up  in  the  valley  of  the  Scioto  a 
thriving  towm,  a  church  and  an  academy. 
The  street  is  long.  It  begins  on  the  hilltop 
of  Blandford.  The  other  end  is  in  the  Old 
Northwest. 

116 


The  Samuel  Boies  Tavern 


THE   STREET   AND   THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

No  one  can  at  all  appreciate  the  early 
history  of  Blandford  without  often  calling 
to  mind  its  position  along  the  track  of  armies. 
Through  all  the  colonial  wars  and  through 
the  protracted  years  of  the  Revolutionary 
war,  fife  and  drum  were  familiar  sounds,  and 
the  march  of  soldiery  habitually  fired  the 
passion  of  the  boys  and  youth.  The  taverns 
swarmed  with  soldiers,  and  many  a  muster, 
without  a  doubt,  took  place  in  the  old  meet- 
ing-house, the  ten  acres  outside  being  used 
for  evolutions.  It  is  of  certain  record  that 
for  years  during  the  early  history  of  the 
town  this  ground  was  used  for  the  purposes 
of  a  military  parade.  Probably  because  it 
was  too  uneven  and  became  too  cramped  for 
such  uses,  in  1796  the  town  authorized  Reuben 
Boies,  Asa  Blair,  Samuel  Knox  and  Reuben 
Blair,  "yeomen,"  to  purchase  of  Benjamin 
Chapman  a  plot  of  ground  fronting  on  the 
town  street,  in  lot  41,  about  forty-seven  rods 
in  length  and  ten  rods  deep.  Henceforth 
this  became  the  historic  place  for  the  training 
of  the  militia.  The  boundary  stones  of  this 
old  parade  ground  have  been  built  into  stone 
walls  in  the  near  vicinity.* 

*  The  lot  is  opposite  the  home  lot  of  James  P.  Nye. 

117 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Aside  from  certain  exemptions  ordered 
by  law,  every  male  citizen  of  eighteen  years 
and  under  forty-five  was  obliged  to  perform 
military  duty,  and  was  further  obligated 
under  penalty  to  provide  himself  with  the 
necessary  uniform  equipment.  The  towns 
were  required  to  keep  in  store  a  specified 
quantity  of  powder,  balls  and  other  material 
of  war.  There  were  practice  parades,  and 
there  was  the  annual  inspection  on  the  first 
Tuesday  in  May.  That  was  the  great  day 
in  all  the  year,  especially  for  the  boys.  Rev. 
Cyrus  Hamlin,  the  famous  missionary  to  the 
Turkish  empire  and  founder  of  Robert  College, 
in  his  "Life  and  Times,"  tells  of  such  a  day 
in  his  boA^hood.     "Then  a  regiment  turned 

out Everybody  went  to  it.     When 

there  was  a  sham  fight  with  the  Indians  in 
war  paint  and  feathers,  it  was  to  us  intensely 
exciting."  The  feathers  indeed  were  not 
missing  in  the  Blandford  parades,  for  I  have 
been  told  that  hereabout  the  domestic  fowl 
was  almost  as  fearsome  of  that  day  as  of 
Thanksgiving.  Then  there  were  the  re- 
freshment stands,  with  ginger-bread  and 
what-not,  and  every  well  regulated  household 

1  18 


THE   STREET   AND   THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

gave  the  children  the  wherewithal  to  surround 
these  stands  with  the  view  to  their  capitula- 
tion. 

There  was  a  law  prohibiting  officers  treat- 
ing on  this  day.  Yet  it  was  a  high  day  for 
the  tavern.  Chipman  Wheaton,  of  local  fame, 
remembered  by  some  to  this  day,  was  once 
heard  to  say  concerning  the  corner  tavern 
on  one  of  these  occasions,  that  he  himself 
had  taken  in  at  that  bar  three  hundred 
dollars.  Almost  literall}^  everybody  was 
drunken  before  nightfall,  officers  and  all.  I 
have  a  personal  letter  from  a  native  of  the 
town  which  tells  of  three  officers  striking 
hands  together  at  the  close  of  one  such  day 
and  pledging  each  other  to  abstinence  hence- 
forth, as  they  saw  the  melancholy  exhibition  of 
intoxication  all  over  the  field.  Of  all  the 
officers  of  that  regiment,  the  three  were  the 
only  ones  to  die  sober. 

The  Scotch-Irish  people  were  rather  dis- 
proportionately inclined  to  the  love  of  ardent 
spirits,  and  drunkenness  became  the  curse 
of  the  town.  Following  the  War  for  In- 
dependence, inns  and  places  for  the  retailing 
of  liquors  mounted  up  to  ten,  a  dozen,  even 

119 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

well  along  into  the  'teens  in  number.  Many 
of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the  town  were 
engaged  in  the  traffic  in  liquors,  either  as 
innholders  or  retailers.  The  annual  average 
sale  was  enormous,  estimated  by  different 
authorities  of  the  time  or  a  little  later  as 
twenty-five  to  fifty  hogsheads,  a  statement 
without  doubt  not  including  hard  cider. 

Rev.  John  Keep,  later  of  national  fame  as 
one  of  the  builders  of  Oberlin  college,  or- 
dained and  settled  in  Blandford  in  1805, 
became  chaplain  of  a  regiment.  His  salary 
and  his  social  distinction  were  in  the  hands 
of  men  whose  traffic,  and  in  no  small  measure 
whose  habits,  more  and  more  provoked  his 
disapproval.  True  prophet  that  he  was,  a 
dozen  years  before  the  general  awakening 
on  the  subject,  he  began  denouncing  these 
things  as  ungodly  and  abominable.  "On 
one  Sabbath  the  Brigadier  General  with  his 
whole  staff  and  the  Colonels  and  majors  of 
the  Brigade  were  present  ( at  Sunday  service) 
as  hearers."  It  was  his  opportunity,  and 
the  young  prophet  failed  not  of  his  duty. 
"I   gave   to    the    congregation,"    he    says,* 

•  In  some  personal  memoirs,  kindly  loaned  me  by  his  grandson,  Mr.  Wm.  J. 
Keep,  of  Detroit,  Mich. 

120 


THE   STREET   AND   THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

"as  thorough  and  as  severe  a  sermon  as  I 
could  muster  ....  The  cannonading 
made  a  commotion,  but  the  effect  was  good. 
The  general  officers  commended  m}^  courage." 

The  year  when  this  courageous  onslaught 
was  made  on  prevalent  drinking  habits  is 
not  given.  I  have  been  told  that  Mr.  Keep's 
temperance  principles  were  a  moral  develop- 
ment of  his  ministry  later  than  the  very 
first.  At  any  rate,  what  the  local  feeling 
and  custom  were  on  the  subject  is  plain  to 
see  from  a  minute  in  the  records  of  1808 
when  the  commissioned  officers  of  the  town 
were  instructed  to  "procure  at  the  Expence 
of  the  Town  Two  Waggons,  one  for  Each 
Company  also  for  such  of  the  Troops  as  live 
in  Town,  for  the  purpose  of  carry^  their 
Baggage  to  Hadley"  and  five  dollars  were 
granted  "to  be  laid  out  in  Spirits  for  the  use 
of  the  Militia  in  this  Town,  under  the  Direc" 
of  the  officers." 

Dr.  Leonard  Bacon,  in  his  "History  of 
American  Christianity,"  says*  concerning  the 
general  moral  condition  of  the  country  at  this 
period:     "The  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth 

*   p.  231. 

121 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

century  show  the  lowest  low-water  mark  of 
the  lowest  ebb-tide  of  spiritual  life  in  the 
history  of  the  American  church.  The  de- 
moralization of  army  life,  the  fury  of  political 
factions,  the  catch-penny  materialistic  moral- 
ity of  Franklin,  the  philosophic  deism  of 
men  like  Jefferson,  and  the  popular  ribaldry 
of  men  like  Tom  Paine,  had  wrought,  to- 
gether with  other  untoward  influences,  to 
bring  about  a  condition  of  things  which  to 
the  eye  of  little  faith  seemed  almost  des- 
perate." Blandford  boys  had  begun  to  enter 
Yale  college.  Most  of  the  students  were 
sceptical;  wine  and  liquors  were  kept  in 
many  rooms.  Intemperance,  profanity, 
gambling  and  licentiousness  were  common. 
The  boys  read  Tom  Paine  and  believed  him. 
What  was  going  on  in  Europe  exerted  a 
powerful  influence  over  them,  as  it  did  in 
America  in  general.  Rev.  Joseph  Badger, 
minister  in  Blandford  during  this  period,  him- 
self an  old  soldier  of  no  mean  repute,  had 
been  a  book-binder.  One  of  his  own  people, 
in  a  spirit  of  raillery,  sent  him  an  unbound 
copy  of  Paine 's  works,  asking  him  to  bind  it. 
The   politics  of   the   day   were   aided   and 

122 


THE   STREET  AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

abetted  by  the  tavern.  It  not  infrequently 
happened  that  the  landlord  was  an  officer  of 
the  militia.  If  he  was  not  that,  he  was  more 
than  likely  to  be  gentleman  or  squire.  The 
train  band  was  a  fit  training  school  for  the 
more  imposing  town  meeting.  As  for  the 
routine  duties  of  the  parades  themselves, 
that  they  were  often  far  from  welcome  is 
duly  attested.  It  was  so  everywhere,  and 
local  history  in  this  respect  conformed  to  the 
general  rule.  Among  the  "dockets"  of 
Jedediah  Smith,  Esq.,  the  following  com- 
plaints may  serve  as  a  few  examples. 

Aug.  14,  1802,  John  Collester,  clerk  of  the 
company  commanded  by  Seth  Parsons,  com- 
plained that  David  Boies,  Captain  of  said 
company,  "Drove  forth  and  mustered  his 
Said  company  to  improve  them  in  the  mili- 
tary art,"  and  Joseph  Hills  of  Blandford 
failed  "to  appear  on  the  Sixteenth  day  of 
June  at  the  usual  Parade  near  ( Landlord) 
Sam"  Boies  2^^  Inkeeper  in  Said  Blandford 
with  his  arms  and  Equipments  according 
to  Law  and  orders  of  Said  captain"  etc. 

"James    Henry    vs.    Davis    E.    Richards. 
Received  and  filed  November  30,  1805 

123 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

"To  Jedediah  Smith  Esquire  one  of  the 
Justices  of  the  Piece  Within  and  for  the 
County  of  Hampshire 

"James  Henry  Clerk  of  the  Company  of 
foot  Commanded  by  Jonas  Johnson  Cap'  in 
the  regiment  of  mihtia  in  the  said  County  of 
Hampshire  Commanded  by  Seth  Parsons 
Colonel  Commandent  Complains  as  well 
for  the  said  Jonas  Johnson  for  the  use  of  and 
in  trust  for  the  Said  Company  as  for  himself 
in  a  plea  of  debt  for  that  the  Said  Jonas 
Johnson  Cap'  as  afore  Said  on  the  twenty 
six  day  of  Sep'  issued  his  orders  to  davis  E 
Richards  acting  in  the  Capasity  of  Corporal 
to  notify  and  warn  the  Several  persons  then 
absence  belonging  to  his  District  to  appear 
on  the  third  day  of  October  at  the  usual 
parade  near  the  meeting  Haus  in  the  said 
Blandford  to  be  improved  in  the  military 
art  and  the  Said  Davis  E  Richards  then  and 
there  in  violation  of  Said  Law  and  the  orders 
of  Said  Cap'  and  did  not  warn  John  King 
according  to  Law  and  orders  where  by  and 
by  virtue  of  the  Law  in  Such  Cases  made 
and  provided  the  Said  Davis  E  Richards 
hath  forfeited  the  sum  of  twelve  Dollars  to 

124 


THE   STREET   AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

be  disposed  of  by  Said  aet  is  directed  and  in 
action  hath  accrued  to  the  Said  James 
Henry  in  his  Said  Capacity  to  have  and  re- 
cover the  same  to  be  disposed  of  as  afore 
Said  3^et  though  requested  the  Said  Davis  E 
Richards  hath  not  paid  the  same  but  detains 
it  Wherefore  your  Complainant  prays  that 
the  Said  Davis  E  Richards  may  be  Sumoned 
to  appear  and  shew  Cause  if  an}^  he  has  Why 
a  warrant  of  distress  Should  not  be  issued 
against  him  pursuant  to  Law 

James  Henry  Clerk 
Blandford  November  25th,  1805" 

Still  another  paper  by  James  Henry  bears 
witness  that  a  parade  was  held  on  Sept.  26, 
1805,  and  that  "Darias  Stephans  of  Blanford 
a  privat  Soldier  in  the  train  band  being 
duly  enroled  in  and  belonging  to  Said  Com- 
pany and  liable  to  train  therein  was  duly 
warned  being  more  than  four  da^^s  previous 
— duly  notified  to  appear — at  the  usual 
parade  near  the  meeting  House  in  Said 
Blanford  with  his  armes  and  equipments 
according  to  Law,"  and  did  not  appear  so 
armed  and  equipped.  The  complainant 
prayed  that  the  defendant  be  made  to  appear 

125 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

and  answer  to  a  charge  of  liability  to  a  fine 
of  "tin  Shillings  equal  to  one  dollar  and 
Sixty  Seven  Cents."     Dated,  Nov.  25,   1806. 

Tradition  says  that  the  place  opposite  the 
new  parade  ground,  which  came  to  be  known 
as  the  Cannon  place,  was  selected  by  the 
town  authorities  in  the  t'me  of  the  Revolu- 
tion as  a  quarantine  for  Tories.  The  story 
is  further  that  William  Cannon,  who  lived 
there,  and  carried  on  a  retailer's  license, 
according  to  record,  from  1763  to  1767,  was 
one  of  the  aforementioned  gentry  who,  feel- 
ing the  bitterness  of  the  disgrace  in  which 
he  was  held  by  his  fellow  citizens  on  account 
of  his  political  views,  called  together  some 
of  his  old  cronies  at  the  comer  tavern,  offered 
a  last  drink  together,  then  went  home  and 
hanged  himself.  This  individual  appears  not 
to  have  deserved  the  opprobrium  which 
tradition  has  cast  upon  him,  but  the  story 
suggests  certain  features  of  local  history  in 
the  stirring  days  of  '76  and  the  part  which 
the  tavern  had  therein.  William  Cannon 
was  twice  selectman  in  years  just  preceding 
the  Revolution. 

Closely  depending  upon  this  central  com- 

126 


THE   STREET   AND   THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

miinity,  a  mile  and  a  half  or  so  to  the  west- 
ward, was  a  scattered  settlement,  known  then, 
as  now  in  its  more  attenuated  condition, 
as  "the  Gore." 

When  the  proprietors  mapped  out  the 
home  settlement  lots  of  sixty  acres  each, 
they  laid  them  down  diagonally  on  the  town 
plot,  so  that,  as  the  settlement  rectangle  was 
oounded,  it  cut  athwart  some  of  the  farm 
lots  of  five  hundred  acres  each,  making  of 
them  triangles  instead  of  squares.  The  Gore 
is  located  in  that  one  of  these  lots  which 
bears  the  number  33.  It  is  a  right-angled 
triangle,  having  its  long  hypotheneuse  bound- 
ing the  west  ends  of  a  baker's  dozen  of  the 
first  division  lots.  Its  centre  lies  about 
midway  between  Blandford  and  North  Bland- 
ford,  but  all  thought  of  the  North  Blandford 
road,  as  the  villagers  now  know  it,  must  be 
blotted  out.  The  modem  mail  route  through 
North  Blandford  to  Otis,  so  far  as  the  road 
connecting  the  two  villages  is  concerned, 
came  into  being  only  after  the  town  of 
Blandford  was  nearly  a  centun,^  old. 

The  Gore  is  a  varied  tract  of  hill  and  inter- 
vale,   where   two   or   three   little   brooks,   es- 

127 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

pecially  that  one  which  the  fathers  called 
"the  branch,"  and  m  modern  maps  is  called 
Bedlam  brook,  gathering  their  waters  from 
the  northerly  slopes,  hurry  them  down 
through  wide  intervales  and  narrowing 
meadows  to  Little  river.  There  first  Robert 
Blair  made  his  lonely  home,  left  it  awhile 
and  returned  to  it  again.  There  too  the 
Boieses  and  Osbornes  came,  and  a  few  of 
the  most  attractive  homes  in  the  town  still 
bear  witness  at  the  Gore  to  the  enterprise 
and  taste  of  the  progenitors.  This  neighbor- 
hood was  reached  by  a  road,  or  lane,  laid  out 
by  the  town  in  1768,  opening  from  the  town 
street  and  running  westerly  between  lots  12 
and  13,  belonging  to  Deacon  Matthew  Blair 
and  William  Carnahan  respectively.*  It  ran 
down  to  an  old  mill  on  the  brook  not  far 
from  the  Berkshire  road,  now  deep  in  the 
woods.  This  road  has  been  abandoned  for 
perhaps  two  or  three  generations  and  the 
name  "Gore  road"  became  transferred  to 
that  one  running  westerly  into  this  same 
general  locality,  departing  from  the  town 
street  nearly  a  mile  farther  up.     This  latter 

*  Between  the  house  of  J.  P.  Nye  and  that  of  the  late  Mrs.  J.  S.  Porter. 

128 


:'::f.: 


•  >v-\.*\ 


THE   STREET   AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

highway  was  adopted  as  a  county  road  in 
1773,  and  was  described  as  running  "West- 
ward to  tlie  Green  Wood  Road  that  leads 
from  Westfield  to  Great  Harrington."  Its 
point  of  juncture  was  still  further  described 
as  "at  the  Northwest  Corner  of  the  Walnut 
hill."  This  road  avoided  North  Blandford — 
because  there  was  then  no  such  village — 
and  ran  up  over  "Nigger  hill,"  a  spur  of 
Walnut  hill,  crossing  the  stream  nearly  a  mile 
below  the  present  village.  It  crossed,  or 
left,  the  point  in  the  modern  turnpike  to 
North  Blandford  at  the  spot  known  as  the 
Jerod  bars,  a  reminiscence  of  the  old  negro, 
Jerod,  or  Jared,  Cables,  who  was  stable  boy 
at  the  Baird  tavern. 

There  were  other  roads  accommodating 
the  Gore  district  which  need  not  here  detain 
us.  They  w^ere  frequently  changing,  owing 
to  transmutations  of  business  and  homes  in  that 
neighborhood  and  be3^ond.  Was  there  ever  a 
tavern  at  the  Gore  ?  Who  knows  ?  The  Blairs 
were  there,  with  milling  operations  at  the 
southerly  end  of  the  settlement,  and  there 
were  several  Blair  licensees.  Wherever  the 
Blairs  were  in  those  days  things  were  doing. 

129 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

A  little  way  above  the  parade  ground,  on 
the  westerly  side  of  the  street,  was  the  pound. 
It  occupied  a  knoll,  where  the  bed  rock  comes 
to  the  surface,  and  the  wagons  rumble  over 
it  as  on  a  pavement  which  nature  laid  mil- 
lenniums ago.  Nearly  opposite  the  pound 
was  the  "Deacon  Samuel  Boies'  home  farm," 
still  so  called  in  1791,  though  David  Boies 
had  purchased  it  two  years  before.  From 
this  point  the  road  dips  down  into  a  meadow, 
or  swamp,  where  the  first  settlers  struggled 
and  wallowed  for  a  day,  painfully  pushing 
on  with  their  baggage  to  the  hill  beyond, 
where  soon  after  a  log  fort  was  erected  for 
the  defence  of  the  people  against  the  Indians. 
Easterly  from  the  northerl}^  end  of  this 
swampy  stretch  and  from  the  friendly  water- 
ing trough  there,  a  hill  rises  at  some  distance 
from  the  road,  spattered  with  some  white 
outcropping  veins  of  quartz,  like  spots  of 
lingering  snow,  giving  the  hillside  a  peculiar 
distinction.  Where  the  hill  comes  down  to 
meet  the  lowland,  yet  high  enough  up  to 
escape  the  dampness  of  the  swamp,  is  still 
an  old  cellar  hole  over  which  David  Mc- 
Conoughey — both  father  and  son — lived  for 

130 


THE  STREET  AND  THE  OLD  ARISTOCRACY 

many  years  after  1745.  William  Donaghy 
"first  Settled  and  Improved"  it,  as  an  old 
deed  of  sale  relates.  Near  by,  mammoth  in 
its  decrepitude,  is  a  partly  dismantled  chest- 
nut, grisled  and  faithful  survivor  of  the  da3^s 
of  yore.  The  McConougheys  were  prom- 
inent citizens  of  the  town,  and  trusted  public 
officers.  The  next  lot,  number  36,  on  that 
side  of  the  street,  is  on  higher  ground,  and 
the  road  rises  again  to  traverse  a  plateau 
nearly  sixteen  hundred  feet  in  elevation, 
which  it  sustains  for  a  mile  or  more. 

This  old  street  must  have  been  the  pride 
of  the  fathers'  hearts,  "beautiful  in  situa- 
tion, the  joy  of  the  whole  earth,"  like  Mount 
Zion.  Wherever  the  forest  was  sufficiently 
subdued  the  eye  caught  vistas  of  splendid 
landscapes,  the  hills  extending  like  billow 
upon  billow  north  and  east,  beyond  the 
Woronoco  and  Connecticut  valleys,  while 
down  the  avenue  of  travel  to  the  south  was 
to  be  seen  the  old  meeting-house  seeming  to 
stand  in  the  very  middle  of  the  street. 

This  highway  and  town  street  of  the  fathers 
became  a  county  road  as  early  as  1759.  The 
commissioners   laid    a   new   road    from    near 

131 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

the  corner  tavern  up  to  the  meeting-house, 
as  the  town  road  had  run  directly  across 
the  ten  acre  lot  and  on  toward  West  Gran- 
ville. From  the  tavern  the  new  road  ran 
north,  28  degrees  west,  28  rods  "to  the  North 
East  comer  of  the  meeting  house,"  after 
rounding  which  it  ran  "up  the  main  Street 
between  the  fences  Seven  hundred  and  thirty 
two  rods,"  north,  eleven  degrees  west,  and 
was  to  be  four  rods  wide. 

In  1807  the  town  widened  the  street.  The 
lay-out  as  reported  to  the  town  was  as  follows : 
"Laid  out  November  9"'  1807  in  Blandford 
a  Town  road  beginning  at  the  east  side  of 
the  Pulpit  window  of  the  meeting  house  in 
said  Blandford  and  running  thence  in  the 
centre  of  s*^  road  north  14  degrees  west  about 
nine  hundred  &  Twenty  rods,  to  the  North 
Line  of  the  Settlers  lotts,  Said  road  to  be 
Six  rodds  in  Wedth."  This  road  ran  on 
through  Becket  to  Pittsfield.  In  1801  it 
had  become  a  part  of  the  Eleventh  Massa- 
chusetts Turnpike. 

Lot  thirty-six,  mentioned  above,  was  the 
connecting  link  on  the  rast  side  of  the  high- 
way between  swamp   and   upland,   and   ad- 

132 


THE  STREET  AND  THE  OLD  ARISTOCRACY 

mitted  of  buildings  close  to  the  street.  This 
lot  was  drawn  in  the  beginning  by  Samuel 
Cannon,  or  Carnahan,  and  became  known 
as  "Samuel  Carnahans  home  lot,"  "on  which 
Samuel  now  lives,  "as  a  deed  of  1803  relates, 
though  probably  concerning  a  son.  In  the 
year  just  named,  James  Hazzard,  "Gentle- 
man," bought  the  homestead  and  put  up  a 
store  there,  giving  a  mortgage  on  it  to  the 
Boston  bank,  and  in  this  "new  store"  he 
sold  liquors  in  accordance  with  his  license 
of  1804  and  1805.  The  Hazzards  operated 
chiefly  in  the  old  town  of  Russell,  now  known 
as  Russell  mountain,  near  Hazzard 's  pond, 
as  Russell  pond  is  still  called  on  the  maps. 
James  appears  not  to  have  been  the  first 
person  to  carry  on  the  business  there,  for 
indications  strongly  point  to  this  as  also 
the  spot  where  James  Sinnet  conducted  a 
similar  business  in  1788.  Joseph  Eells  suc- 
ceeded Hazzard  in  1810  and  1811.  He  was 
father  of  Gushing  Eells,  who  becam.e  the  co- 
laborer  of  Marcus  Whitman  and  the  founder 
of  Whitman  college.  The  Eells  home,  how- 
ever, for  the  most  part,  was  on  the  farm  at 
the  foot  of  Birch  hill.     But  the  comer  of  the 

133 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

lot  where  the  store  was,  on  the  town  street, 
is  known  to  this  day  among  elderly  people 
as  Eells'  hill.  Joseph  Eells  sold  to  John 
Gibbs  in  1812. 

The  business  stand  just  described  is  re- 
ferred to  in  one  of  the  deeds  as  located  near 
"landlord  Boies's  line."  Hazzard  was  not 
very  successful.  Strange  indeed  would  it  have 
been  if  everybody,  even  in  those  bibulous 
days,  when  builders  raced  with  one  another 
to  finish  a  public  house  before  a  competitor 
should  get  the  trade,  should  have  avoided 
insolvency. 

This  Boies's  tavern,  or  inn,  stood,  and  still 
stands,  just  to  the  north  of  the  now  smoothed 
and  grass-grown  Eells'  hill,*  a  fine  old  two- 
story  house,  with  a  large  front  room  on  either 
side  of  the  stairway  which  opens  out  of  the 
traditional,  small,  rectangular  hall,  and  spans 
the  distance  between  the  floors  by  several 
angular  turns.  The  old  tavern  stands  broad- 
side to  the  street,  front  door  facing  the  same, 
the  old  bar-room  door  being  on  the  southwest 
corner,  on  the  gable  end  looking  down  the 
street  to  the  meeting-house. 

This  inn  was  for  years  one  of  the  stopping- 

*  Mr.  Amos  Loomis  now  resides  there. 

134 


THE   STREET   AND  THE  OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

places  for  stages  on  the  Boston  and  Albany 
route.  Tradition  is  strangely  silent  about 
this  old  caravansary,  but  the  records  are 
beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt.  In  the 
bar-room  of  this  inn  the  unfortunate  Hazzard 
parted  with  his  store  and  thirty  acres  of  land 
under  sheriff's  sale,  Barnabas  Whitney  being 
deputy  and,  apparently,  auctioneer.*  The 
builder  of  this  substantial  piece  of  architec- 
ture,— entirely  plain  except  the  line  of  fine, 
cubical  beading  just  under  the  eaves, — is 
subject  of  conjecture,  but  there  is  approxi- 
mate solution  of  the  problem.  The  lot  (No. 
35,)  was  drawn  at  first  by  Israel  Gibbs,  from 
whom  it  passed  to  his  son  Isaac,  who  in  turn 
sold  it  to  Warham  Parks,  "of  Westfield,"  in 
1780.  The  instrument  runs  thus:  The  par- 
cel of  land  "being  of  the  settling  lots  in  said 
Town  &  is  the  same  whereon  I  now  live  &  is 
lot  Number  Thirty  five  in  the  first  division 
with  a  Mansion  House  and  barn  standing  on 
the  same  and  is  bounded  vvestwardly  and 
northerly!  by  the  street  or  highway  and 
southerly  by  Sam"  Carnahan's  home  lot  con- 

*  The  estate  passed  to  Samuel  Knox,  at  that  time  the  mortgagee,  for  fifteen 

dollars, 
t  A  road  bounded  the  northerly  side  of  this  lot,  as  given  in  the  town  records 

in  1750.     It  has  been  long  since  obliterated. 

135 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

taining  by  estimation  sixty  acres  more  or 
less."  The  date  of  the  deed  is  Feb.  14,  1780, 
from  which  it  would  appear  that  the  house 
is  older  than  that,  and  was  possibly  built 
by  Isaac  Gibbs.  However  that  may  be, 
there  is  an  interesting  tradition  concerning  it 
and  two  other  houses  in  the  immediate  vicinity. 
It  is  but  a  stone's  throw  from  this  house 
to  that  of  Deacon  Amasa  L.  Stewart,  across 
the  way,  in  lot  19;  and  it  is  but  another 
long  stone's  throw  from  the  latter  to  the 
house  of  Roscoe  Ripley,  the  site  of  Job 
Almy's  tavern  for  many  years  in  the  early 
nineteenth  century,  the  tavern  itself  having 
burned  to  the  ground  some  years  ago.  The 
Almy  house  was  on  the  northeast  corner  of 
the  old  town  street  and  the  Northampton 
road,  the  Stewart  house  being  about  half 
way  between  the  other  two  buildings,  but 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street.  The 
Stewart  house  bears  all  the  marks  of  age 
which  characterize  the  Boies  tavern.  The 
story  is  that  these  three  houses  were  build- 
ing at  the  same  time,  and  that  the  builders 
were  running  a  race  with  each  other  to 
finish  first,  as  each  house  was  intended  for 

136 


THE   STREET   AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

an  inn.  The  northernmost  house  was  said 
to  be  first  completed  and  so  got  the  business, 
thus  ruining  the  chances  of  the  other  two. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Warham  Parks 
was  cited  as  of  Westfield  when  he  purchased 
the  estate  which  afterward  became  the  Samuel 
Boies  tavern,  and  that  he  had  already  been 
living  on  the  place  before  he  bought  it. 
This  gentleman,  who  was  "of  Westfield"  only 
by  virtue  of  a  long  reminiscence,  wielded  a 
wide  influence  in  Blandford  during  the  fifteen 
or  twenty  years  when  he  was  in  the  town. 
He  carried  a  license  from  1780  to  1783,  but 
just  where,  it  is  not  easy  to  affirm.  It  would 
appear  that  for  a  part  of  the  time  he  con- 
ducted business  in  the  northeast  part  of  the 
town,  where  the  Parks  home  farm  was,  in 
the  five-hundred-acre  lot.  No.  39.  But  so 
remote  a  section,  bustling  though  it  then 
was,  could  not  long  satisfy  so  moving  and 
ambitious  a  spirit,  and  he  very  soon  began 
to  operate  in  the  heart  of  the  community. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  he  possessed  himself 
of  every  one  of  the  three  actual,  or  would-be, 
tavern  sites  about  which  the  significant 
tradition  just  recited  has  come  dowTi,   and 

137 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

at  the  very  time  when  the  events  related 
are  most  hkely  to  have  happened.  In  1780 
he  was  living  in  the  southernmost  of  the 
three.  The  tradition  declares  the  winner 
of  the  building  race  to  have  been  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Beard.  The  northernmost  place, 
afterward  the  Almy  lot,  was  known  as  the 
Beard  lot,  having  been  originally  drawn  by 
James  Beard,  an  Englishman,  in  1737.  He 
passed  a  part  of  it  on  to  his  son  James,  Jr., 
selling  forty-four  acres  to  Warham  Parks, 
in  1782,  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
in  silver,  the  same  "having  thereon  standing 
an  Old  House  and  Barn."  This  lot  was  on 
the  corner,  and  Beard  speaks  of  it  as  the 
place  where  he  "formerly  lived,"  implying 
that  he  was  not  then  living  there.  Parks 
parted  with  it  to  Samuel  Crooks  Gibbs  three 
years  later,  naming  as  one  of  the  special 
privileges  of  the  conveyance  the  use  of  the 
"Bagg  well"  in  the  lot  opposite.  There  was, 
it  seems,  some  water  consumed,  even  then. 

The  lot  midway  between,  and  across  the 
street,  known  as  the  Brown  lot,  passed  from 
Solomon  and  William  Brown  to  Elisha  Parks, 
in    1769.     It  had  on   it  a   "Dwelling  House 

138 


THE  STREET  AND  THE  OLD  ARISTOCRACY 

&  Barn,"  probably  a  humbler  abode  than 
the  competitor  of  the  two  taverns.  Just 
when  Warham  Parks  took  possession  of  it 
I  am  unable  to  say,  but  in  1787  he  sold  it  to 
"Samuel  Boies  2"'^  Innholder."  That  was 
two  years  after  the  latter  had  bought  the 
tavern  stand  so  long  to  be  operated  by  him 
and  his  son.  It  was  held  by  the  BoivSes 
nearly  forty  years,  when  it  passed  by  an 
execution  sale  held  in  the  corner  tavern, — 
Isaac  Lloyd  being  landlord, — to  Luther  Laf- 
lin.  Years  after,  this  lot  became  known 
as  Luther  Laflin's  bear  lot.  It  was  in  this 
house  that  the  tragedy  occurred  which 
occasioned  the  melancholy   inscription  on  a 

headstone  in  the  old  burying  ground : 
In  memory 
Miss  Betsey  Boies 
Dauf  of  Mr  Samuel  & 
Mrs  Elizabeth  Boies 
who  died  July  18'^ 
1814  aged  18  years. 
She  died  of  a  burn  rec'd  while  a 
sleep    by    the    inflamd    Bedcloths 
suppos'd  to  be  accidentally  set  on 
fire  by  her  candle. 
There  can  hardly  be  any  doubt  that  Parks 
improved  his  license,  which  by  the  way,  was 

139 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

a  retailer's,  a  part  of  the  time  at  least  in  one 
or  more  of  these  three  houses.  Perhaps  he 
was  the  builder  of  all  three,  the  tradition 
serving  to  reflect  simply  the  feverish  impulse 
which  was  given  to  this  class  of  business  in 
these  earliest  years  of  stage  travel  and  re- 
covery from  the  incubus  of  war.  Previous 
to  the  period  of  the  three-tavern  tradition, 
in  1779,  Major  Parks  owned  lot  25,  after- 
ward in  possession  of  Isaac  Gibbs,  "lying 
about  two  Miles  and  one  half  North  from 
the  Meeting  House  in  s*^  Town  &  lies  partly 
on  the  East  &  partly  on  the  West  side  of  the 
County  Road  running  through  said  Town 
to  Becket,"  "having  thereon  standing  a 
Mansion  House  &  Barn."  But  this  too,  as 
subsequent  events  proved,  was  too  far  north 
of  the  centre  of  life  to  satisfy  so  commanding 
a  spirit. 

There  was  scarcely  a  dignity  to  which  his 
fellow  citizens  did  not  feel  themselves  honored 
in  promoting  Warham  Parks.  For  five  con- 
secutive years  he  was  selectman,  when  such 
material  was  easy  to  find.  He  was  one  of 
the  most  popular  of  moderators  of  town 
meetings  in  a  period  when  legal  and  forensic 

140 


THE  STREET  AND  THE  OLD  ARISTOCRACY 

abilities  abounded  and  politics  was  both  a 
business  and  a  pastime.  He  was  chairman 
of  a  committee  to  seat  the  meeting-house, 
and  of  a  large  committee  of  local  notables 
to  extend  a  call  to  Rev.  Aaron  Crosby;  was 
chairman  also  of  a  committee  to  build  pews, 
and  of  another  committee  to  dispose  at 
public  sale  of  the  unimproved  lands  of  the 
town.  But  his  reign  was  short.  He  re- 
turned to  Westfield  and  died  there,  possessed 
of  a  considerable  estate. 

There  was  still  another  licensed  bar,  from 
1785  to  1792,  in  the' midst  of  this  cauldron  of 
business  and  social  ferment.  It  was  run  by 
John  Gibbs,  son  of  Israel.  His  "Homelot" 
was  wedged  in  between  the  two  tavern  lots 
on  the  east  side  of  the  street.  He  may  not 
have  been  as  prominent  a  member  of  society 
as  some  of  the  others,  but  he  was  a  selectman 
in  1781.  A  generation  later  there  was  a 
store  on  this  lot,  at  the  northwest  corner, 
and  there  may  have  been  one  m,uch  earlier. 
Still  another  retailer's  license — and  therefore 
probably  also  another  general  store — was 
carried  on  b}^  Samuel  Blair,  son  of  Rufus 
and   Dolly,    in    1810,    in   a   half -acre   in   the 

141 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

northeast  corner  of  lot  17.  This  little  spot 
had  a  kaleidoscopic  career  of  ownership  and 
eclat.  Blair  was  known  as  a  "trader,"  and 
so  must  have  done  considerable  business; 
but  his  place  was  sold  over  his  head  by 
Deputy  Sheriff  Asa  Smith,  at  public  sale, 
at  the  house  of  Eleazer  Slocum,  the  corner 
tavern,  to  James  Babcock,  blacksmith. 

In  1779,  and  for  four  or  five  years  there- 
after. Deacon  William  Boies  was  selling 
strong  drinks  under  a  retailer's  license  in  the 
busy  part  of  the  town  street,  namely,  in  lot 
21,  just  above  the  Baird  lot,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street. 

There  were  at  least  seventeen  licensed 
innholders  and  retailers  in  the  town  of  Bland- 
ford  in  the  year  1784.  In  Springfield,  in 
that  year,  there  were  less  than  thirty.  Noth- 
ing in  the  world  could  have  added  more 
dignity  to  the  business  than  the  prestige 
already  borne  by  the  men  who  conducted 
it  on  this  street.  Old  Matthew  Blair  had 
held  the  office  of  deacon  steadily  and 
honorably,  and  was  familiarly  known  as 
"Elder  Blair."  Samuel  Boies,  who  died  Sept. 
4,   1804,  was,  as  his  tombstone  impressively 

142 


THE   STREET  AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

tells  us,  "a  ruling  Elder  of  Christ  Church 
in  Blandford  more  than  40  years."  Both 
the  Boieses  represented  their  town  at  the 
General  Court,  William,  himself  also  a  deacon, 
consecutively  for  many  years,  and  was  town 
clerk  for  eleven  years  without  a  break.  The 
two  Boieses  were  moderators  of  town  meet- 
ings without  number,  and  when  a  Bill  of 
Rights  was  framed  by  the  people,  Deacon 
William  was  charged  by  his  fellow-citizens 
with  the  honor  of  representing  them. 

This  section  of  the  old  town  street  was  a 
busy  and  important  centre  of  life  for  many 
years.  There  were  at  least  a  blacksmith 
shop  or  two  and  a  school- house  there.  Three 
or  four  stores  were  in  this  close  vicinity, 
and  in  1830  the  Protestant  Episcopal  society 
built  a  church  edifice  opposite  Job  Almy's 
tavern,  on  the  west  side  of  the  town  street. 
John  Ferguson  lived  in  the  lot  opposite  the 
Boies  tavern  until  his  death.  Unless  there 
was  a  second  John  Ferguson*  of  whom  there 
is  not  particular  record,  this  man  was  the 
redoubtable  captain  of  the  minute-men  of 
1776.     Rev.  Joseph  Badger  lived  just  south 

*  There  were  so  many  lots  in  widely  separated  sections  of  the  town  in 
possession  of  an  owner,  or  owners,  bearing  this  name,  that  some 
doubt  may  possibly  rest  on  the  absolute  identification. 

143 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Gore  road, 
but  which  was  then  called  the"High  Way  from 
Blandford  Street  to  y'  Greenwoods  Road," 
or,  the  "County  road  leading  from  the  Street 
westward."  Mr.  Badger  sold  out  in  1795 
to  Dr.  Joseph  Wadsworth  Brewster  forty- 
four  acres  with  a  "Mansion  House  and  a 
Bam,"  the  latter  selling  also,  in  part,  ten 
years  later,  to  another  physician,  Dr.  Nathan 
Blair.  Farther  down  the  street,  opposite 
the  parade  ground.  Dr.  Charles  H.  Little 
was  living  in  1811. 

On  the  two  miles  betw^een  the  meeting- 
house and  Prospect  hill  was  almost  every- 
thing one  could  think  of  to  make  a  community 
self-respecting  and  aggressive:  men  of  civic 
influence,  military  dignity  and  ecclesiastical 
power;  meeting-house,  school-house,  shops, 
stores,  taverns,  the  pound,  the  military 
parade  and  the  old  fort.  Just  below  the 
Boies  inn,  between  that  popular  resort  and 
Pound  hill,  on  the  causeway — originally  the 
fateful  swamp — the  young  men  of  a  later 
generation  used  to  go  on  Saturday  after- 
noons to  speed  their  horses,  not  with  sulkies, 
but    on    horseback.     Whatever    was    doing, 

144 


THE   STREET  AND  THE   OLD   ARISTOCRACY 

this  was  the  center  for  fun  and  business, 
and  the  tavern  was  the  headquarters.  The 
Boies  tavern  ran  under  a  Hcense,  for  father 
and  son,  covering  an  uninterrupted  period 
of  twenty-nine  years,  beginning,  according 
to  the  county  records,  in  1787.  Job  Almy's 
hcense  began  much  later,  extending  from 
1807  to  1826.  That  house  was  a  two-story 
building,  and  very  long.  Almy  kept  a  store 
and  bought  considerable  real  estate  in  the 
vicinity  of  his  house  as  well  as  elsewhere. 
His  name  is  still  familiar  among  those  in- 
itiated into  the  secrets  of  the  past.  For  a 
considerable  period  of  years  the  Episcopal 
society  met  regularly  at  his  house  or  store 
for  the  transaction  of  their  annual  business. 

What  these  pages  have  recorded  of  tavern 
life  is  scarcely  more  than  a  skeleton,  and  an 
incomplete  one  at  that.  Loaded  stages 
passed  up  and  down  this  street,  as  trains 
pull  in  and  out  of  some  central  railroad 
town  to-day.  The  street  was  full  of  life. 
Those  scenes  and  sounds  are  so  much  of  the 
past  that  some  old  residents  of  to-day  doubt 
the  facts  which  records  of  court  and  county 
registers  indubitably  prove,  while  from  one 

145 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

and  another  the  traditions  are  gleaned  which 
together  fit  so  strangely  into  the  things  of 
record  and  send  back  faint  echoes  of  genera- 
tions we  fain  would  know  more  about. 


146 


Chapter  Six 

The   New   Aristocracy   and  the 
New  Village 

WHILE  all  this  aristocracy  was 
holding  its  tenure  in  the  heart  of  the 
old  street,  affairs  were  by  no 
means  stagnating  down  on  the  Albany  road. 
Below  the  meeting-house,  on  this  road,  the 
leaven  of  change  was  working .  A  few  men  were 
there  who  had  the  spirit  of  prophecy  and  were 
capable T  of  doing  things.  Just  why  they 
chose  this  scene  of  operations  it  would  seem 
easy  to  guess.  With  land  held  pretty  tightly 
up  town,  there  was  unimproved  and  saleable 
property  on  the  great  route  of  through  travel 
lower  down,  and  located  on  such  wise  as  to 
promise  development.  So,  before  the  Revo- 
lutionary period  was  well  over,  a  new  era  of 
business  activity  began  to  dawn,  and  when 
peace  was  well  established  the  progress  be- 
came vigorous.  Men  of  business,  all  of  them 
innkeepers  or  having  a  retail  license,  all  land 
speculators,  all  men  of  influence  in  town 
affairs,  came  in  to  develop  that  section  of  the 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

old  home  lots  which  in  later  generations  has 
constituted  the  village  of  Blandford. 

One  of  these  men  was  Timothy  Hatch, 
He  seems  to  have  come  to  town  in  or  about 
the  year  1781,  when  he  purchased  thirty 
acres,  being  the  eastern  part  of  lot  47,  first 
division,  the  second  lot  below  John  Boies's, 
"with  a  Dwelling  House,"  and  is  written 
down  in  the  deed  as  of  Hartford.*  The  L 
of  the  present  house  is  very  old,  and  may 
not  improbably  be  that  where  Timothy 
Hatch  first  took  up  his  abode.  His  license 
appears  to  have  begun  in  that  same  year. 

The  next  indication  of  him  is  in  a  deed  of 
March  1,  1785,  wherein  is  conveyed  to 
"Timothy  Hatch  Merchant"  about  an  acre 
of  land  "on  the  north  side  of  the  Albany 
road  so  Called,"  the  same  being  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  old  Pease  farm,  and  adjoining 
on  the  west  the  tavern  property  of  Justus 
Ashmun.  The  plot  had  a  frontage  of  four- 
teen rods.  Hatch  probably  built  a  house 
there  that  spring.  In  any  case  there  was 
one  there  when  he  sold  the  place  to  John 
Robbins,  June  27  of  the  same  3^ear.     That 

*  The  location  corresponds  with  the  homestead  of  Edward   Dunlap,   re- 
cently the  home  of  Howard  P.  Robinson. 

148 


Tavern  Sign  of  Klfts  Hlair  and  Samuel  Porter 
Supposed  First  Tavern  (left   section  of   house)  op  Timothy  Hatch  and 

HIS   SUCCESSORS 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

gentleman  held  it  for  only  a  year  or  two, 
when  (1786)  it  became  the  property  of 
Russell  Attwater.*  In  this  same  year  Hatch 
bought  fifty  acres  of  the  Pease  farm.f 

While  everybody  smelled  of  the  soil  in  those 
days,  and  Hatch  doubtless  was  no  exception, 
this  deal,  it  may  be  safely  guessed,  was  not  pri- 
marily for  farming  purposes .  The  house  on  the 
corner  of  the  old  second  division  road,  J  as  it 
was  called  for  many  years,  (beginning  with  the 
ministry  of  John  Keep,  the  parsonage,)  must 
have  been  built  at  about  this  time.  It  seems 
almost  certain  that  the  builder  was  Timothy 
Hatch, who  was  living  in  it  in  1793,  in  which 
year  he  gave  a  mortgage  on  it  to  Russell  Att- 
water,  already  a  rising  and  successful  merchant. 
The  instrument  is  interesting.  It  describes 
the  lot  as  bounded  southerly  on  "the 
great  road  from  Westfield  to  Great  Barring- 
ton,"  otherwise  called  the  Albany  road, 
west  on  Attwater,  north  on  Lieut.  William 
Knox,  Jr.,   to  whom  Hatch  had  sold  three 

*  This  plot  corresponds  very  nearly  with  the  present  house  lot  of  Miss 
Electa  B.  Watson. 

t  The  part  conveyed  had  for  its  southeastern  bound  the  road  to  the  second 
division,  so  called,  long  since  disused,  but  discernible  just  easterly 
of  the  house  of  Enos  W.  Boise.  Its  southwestern  bovmd  was  the 
Albany  road,  now  the  village  street.  Its  northwestern  bound  was 
an  extension  of  the  corresponding  bound  of  the  acre-lot  with  house, 
and  the  remaining  bounds  were  coterminous  with  the  lines  of  the 
original  northern  boundary  of  lot  43  in  its  extreme  eastern  part  and 
the  easterly  ends  of  lots  43,  44,  and  a  small  part  of  45. 

+  By  which  was  meant  the  road  leading  to  the  second  division. 

149 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

acres  of  the  northernmost  corner  of  his  fifty 
acres,  and  east  "on  the  Road  called  the  Second 
division  road;"  fourteen  acres,  with  "house, 
barn,  merchants  store  Hatters  Shop  and 
pot  Ash  Works  thereon  standing." 

Here  is  something  illuminating  in  tracing 
the  growth  of  this  thriving  community  in 
the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  centur}^ 
From  1781  and  onward  Hatch's  license  had 
been  a  retailer's.  That  year  and  thence- 
forward to  the  close  of  the  century  he  had 
an  innholder's  license,  and  he  was  living  in 
this  same  house  in  1800,  as  of  record  in 
another  deed  of  mortgage  to  Jonathan 
Dwight,  Esq.,  and  Jonas  Nut  Dwight  Marshal 
of  Springfield.  The  increasing  through  travel 
over  this  principal  artery  of  the  common- 
wealth invited  business. 

In  all  these  years  Timothy  Hatch  had  not 
escaped  the  notice  and  public  favor  of  his 
fellows-citizens,  and  was  often  occupying 
public  station.  He  was  "Ensign  Timothy 
Hatch"  until  the  year  1793,  when  the  more 
enviable  title  of  "Captain"  was  accorded 
to  him.  Throughout  this  period  he  was 
moderator  of  public  assemblies  galore,  and 
several   times   selectman.     He   was   the   first 

ISO 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

postmaster  the  town  had.  In  the  church 
he  was  a  not  uninfluential  adherent.  Once 
he  was  appointed  on  that  ever  important 
committee  charged  with  the  dehcate  duty 
of  seating  the  meeting-house.  At  this  par- 
ticular time  (1792)  indeed,  two-thirds  of 
the  committee  were  innkeepers. 

There  was  a  hatter's  shop  on  this  corner. 
The  business  was  passed  along  from  father 
to  son.  The  potash  works  were  not  the  only 
establishment  of  the  kind  in  the  town. 
Timothy  Hatch  was  not  a  man  of  one  idea. 
Builder,  innkeeper,  merchant,  manufacturer 
in  at  least  two  different  enterprises,  post- 
master and  man  of  affairs  was  he.  It  is  not 
germane  to  the  present  inquiry  to  follow 
the  Hatches,  father  and  son,  into  all  their 
real  estate  deals.  But  it  is  pertinent  to 
discover,  so  far  as  may  be,  how  these  men 
and  others,  landlords  or  of  similar  craft, 
operated  as  leaders  in  the  working  out  of 
town  and  village  life. 

The  old  John  Boies  farm, — and  indeed, 
practically  the  same  might  be  said  of  the 
other  farms  in  the  neighborhood— began  to 
be  so  divided  and  subdivided  and  the    old 

151 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

boundaries  ignored,  that  hereabout  the  primi- 
tive divisions  into  sixty-acre  home  lots  had 
become  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  crossing  of 
these  lots  obliquely  by  the  road  hastened  the 
process.  In  1791  John  Follet,  who  had  ob- 
tained possession  the  previous  year  of  the 
John  Boies  house,  sold  the  same,  with  three 
acres  of  land,  to  Solomon  Noble,  a  black- 
smith, whose  activity  in  the  new  movements 
was  also  a  considerable  factor.  Noble  moved 
into  the  house  and  built,  or  had,  his  shop 
there,  but  sold  the  whole  estate  the  next 
year  after  he  bought  it,  to  Timothy  Hatch. 
The  latter  presently  rented  the  same  to 
Walter  Shepard,  who  finally  bought  it  in 
1794,  with  the  shop  and  three  acres  of  land. 
This  lot  had  thirty  rods  frontage  on  the 
street,  the  house  standing  in  the  centre. 
Walter  Shepard  also  was  a  hatter.  Who 
built  the  hat  shop  is  not  of  record,  but  not 
improbably  Hatch  erected  it  for  Shepard, 
who  continued  to  live  and  carry  on  his  busi- 
ness there  until  his  death,  a  few  years  later. 
The  place  became  familiarly  known  as  the 
Walter  Shepard  place,  and  Widow  Shepard 
continued  to  live  there  for  some  years,  when 

152 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

it  was  finally  sold  to  Joseph  Bull,  innkeeper. 
Amid  all  the  commotion  and  parley  of 
business,  public  affairs  and  things  masculine 
generally,  it  is  a  relief  and  an  uplift  to  arrive 
at  a  little  spot  where  domestic  quietness  and 
humble  toil  are  given  their  peculiar  and  ap- 
propriate place.  During  all  the  years  of 
Walter  Shepard's  residence  in  this  humble 
home,  and  his  application  to  his  own  daily 
work  in  the  shop  close  by  the  house,  as  well 
as  in  the  frequent  mention  in  the  deeds  of 
"widow Shepard,"  it  is  refreshing  to  remember 
that  after  all,  if  there  were  no  such  oases, 
if  a  community  were  not  mostly  made  up 
of  the  unnamed  and  unheralded,  there  would 
be  nothing  to  say  of  the  leaders.  There 
would  be  no  leaders,  since  there  would  be 
no  rank  and  file.  In  all  the  hubbub  of 
trade,  traffic  and  promotion,  the  women  and 
children  are  mostly  silent  and  forgotten. 
After  all,  the  chief  part  of  the  history  is 
unwritten. 

In  1814,  the  hatter's  shop  and  the  little 
house  beside  it  became  the  property  of 
Timothy  L.  Hatch,  son  of  Timothy,  after 
brief    possession    by    Joseph    Bull,    Russell 

153 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Attwater  and  William  Ashley.  The  elder 
Hatch  meantime  appears  to  have  removed 
again  to  his  former  residence  in  Hartford, 
but  not  until  he  had  left  still  further  witness 
of  his  building  activity.  On  another  little  sec- 
tion of  the  old  John  Boies  farm,  on  the  south- 
west of  the  four  corners— the  same  being 
constituted  by  the  intersection  of  the  Albany 
road  with  that  to  the  second  division  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  road  to  the  east  parish  in 
Granville  (now  Sunset  rock  road)  on  the 
other — and  just  opposite  the  tavern,  on  half 
an  acre  of  ground,  a  "new  house"  was  built. 
That  was  about  1800.  It  was  owned  and 
probably  built  by  the  two  Hatches.  It 
stands  on  a  high  bank.  There  is  no  well 
there.  Building  in  such  a  place,  when  land 
was  plenty,  adds  emphasis  to  the  real  estate 
boom  which  was  on  when  the  eighteenth 
century  had  grown  old. 

Things  went  lively  in  the  taverns  and 
licensed  stores  in  those  days.  We  might 
add,  at  the  blacksmith  shops  as  well.  Drunken 
brawls  were  not  infrequent,  and  many  a 
fortune  that  was  made  was  lost  again.  It 
seems  a  little  unjust  to  single  out  one  from 

154 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

another  for  illustration.  There  is  some  pleas- 
ure, however,  in  selecting  Timothy  L.  Hatch 
in  such  a  connection,  because  of  the  stiff 
fight  which  he  put  up  against  his  too  fervent 
love  of  strong  drink;  and,  it  would  appear, 
he  nobly  won  in  the  end.  The  Hatches 
seemed  not  to  have  been  able  long  to  hold 
what  property  they  acquired  and  developed. 
Wherever  they  were,  the  lawyer  and  sheriff 
had  plenty  of  business.  Timothy  L.  Hatch 
is  still  well  remembered  as  an  old  man  by 
some  of  the  elderly  ones  in  town.  He  was 
communicative  and  social,  and  loved  to 
make  an  excuse  of  bringing  a  neighbor's 
mail  to  sit  down  and  chat  with  his  old  friends. 
He  went  by  the  nickname  of  "Old  Rorum," 
for  whatever  reason  is  left  now  to  conjecture. 
Hardly  had  the  father  and  son  built  their 
new  house*  on  the  high  bank  at  the  corner, 
than  they  were  obliged  to  part  with  it.  The 
day  was  January  11,  1802;  the  place,  "the 
House  of  Solomon  Noble  Innholder  in  Blan- 
ford,"  the  parsonage  of  later  date.  It  was 
at  three  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  logs  were 
crackling  in  the  fireplace  while  the  men  of 
the  town  were  gathered  by  it  and  in  front 

*  Now  the  summer  house  of  Irving  A.  Quimbv. 

155 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

of  the  bar  to  put  up  bids  or  watch  and  Hsten 
to  those  who  should  venture,  as  Deputy 
Sheriff  Parsons  Clapp  announced  the  sale 
and  called  for  offers.  The  execution  had 
been  served  by  Jonathan  Dwight,  Esq.,  and 
James  Scott  Dwight,  merchants.  There  was 
already  a  mortgage  to  Eli  P.  Ashmun,  and 
this  sale  was  that  of  the  right  in  equity  to 
redeem  the  property.  Solomon  Noble  was 
the  buyer,  for  $217.  *  The  Hatches  managed 
to  keep  some  kind  of  hold  on  the  estate  for  a 
couple  of  years  longer,  when  they  sold  what 
they  could  claim  of  it  for  $200  to  the  Dwights, 
who  in  turn  conveyed  it  to  Dr.  Joseph  B. 
Elmore. 

In  1823  Timothy  L.'s  hat  shop  was  the 
subject  of  attack,  this  time  by  the  State  of 
Connecticut,  which  had  a  mortgage  on  it. 
This  attachment,  or  sale,  is  described  as 
follows:  "part  of  a  Hatters  Shop  situate  in 
Blandford  is  s''  County  near  the  dwelling 
House  of  the  said  Timothy  L.,  to  wit,  The 
South  room  on  the  lower  floor  of  said  shop 
and  so  much  of  the  North  room  on  the  lower 
floor  as  is  South  of  a  line  drawn  from  the 

♦  Vol.  40,  p.  391,  Springfield  Registry  of  Deeds. 

156 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

South  side  of  the  East  door  to  the  bottom 
of  the  stud  next  South  of  the  Northeast 
corner  post."*  And  again,  that  very  same 
year,  part  of  the  chamber  and  garret  were 
similarly  dealt  with.f 

The  train  of  conditions  which  led  to  these 
troubles  is  plainly  enough  revealed  in  the 
records  of  the  church.  It  was  in  1824  that 
Hatch  was  confronted  with  the  charge  of 
"having  on  a  public  day  been  guilty  of  making 
too  free  an  use  of  ardent  spirits, ' '  and  confessed 
his  weakness,  "both  to  individuals  and  before 
the  church,"  In  this  confession  he  is  made 
to  say  that  he  has  been  "somewhat  addicted 
to  the  Sin  of  Intemperance,"  an  acknowledg- 
ment the  truth  of  which  was  emphasized  by 
the  necessity  of  a  repetition  of  the  disciplinary 
process  four  years  later.  On  that  occasion 
he  pleaded,  in  his  confession,  "I  think  I 
have  now  a  more  penitent  state  of  mind  & 
more  humility  than  when  I  fell  before." 
The  church  was  forbearing,  but  the  necessity 
for  temperance  reform  was  lying  heavily  on 
the  conscience  of  the  religious  community, 
and    as    more    complaints    were    coming    in 

•  Registry  of  Deeds,  Vol.  Ex.  F,  p.  61. 
t  Id.,  p.  74. 

157 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

against  the  habits  of  Mr .  Hatch,  the  church 
passed  a  resolution  in   1831   suspending  him 
from  good  standing  and  the  privilege  of  the 
sacrament.     In  this  category  of  discipline  he 
appears  to  have  remained  three  years,  "faint 
yet  pursuing,"  until  at  last  he  averred  that 
for   more   than   a   year   he   had   entirely   ab- 
stained from  the  use  of  intoxicants,  and  was 
willing  to  become  a  member  of  the  Temper- 
ance   Society,    whereupon    he    was    received 
again  into  good  standing  with  his  brethren 
"without  doubtful  disputation."     All  this  was 
under  the  ministry  of  that  stern  disciplina- 
rian,  Rev.     Dorus    Clarke.     This     entry    of 
triumph  on  the  part  of  Timothy   L.   Hatch 
has  no  sequel  in  the    records.     His  was  an 
interesting    character    and    career,    and    the 
final  entry  stands  to  the  credit  of  his  manhood. 
The    individual  whose    career     of    struggle 
we  have  followed  for  a  little  was  by  no  means 
a  solitary  example  of  the  prevalent  evils  of 
the  time  in  Blandford.     Nor  is  it  to  be  in- 
ferred   that   the   new   village   was   more   rife 
with  it  than  the  old  aristocracy  on  the  hill. 
Rev.    Joseph    Badger   made    entry    of   date, 
November   20,  1787.  to  the  effect   that  at  a 

158 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

meeting  of  the  session  at  his  house,  the  elders 
present  being  Wilham  Boies,  Samuel  Boies, 
John  Knox  and  Robert  Lloyd — all  licensees 
at  one  time  or  another — "Capt  William  Knox 
&  William  Mitchel  voluntarily  appeared  and 
confessed  themselves  to  have  been  overtaken 
in  the  heinous  sin  of  drunkenness,  &  signified 
their  willingness  to  manifest  their  repentance 
by  publickly  confessing  their  sin."  Under 
the  ministry  of  Mr.  Keep,  Samuel  Boies  was 
arraigned  for  similar  offences.  Asahel  Water- 
man fell  under  like  charge.  In  1820  Asa 
Blair  was  joined  to  the  procession  and  made 
manful  acknowledgment.  Eleven  years  later 
David  Allyn  did  the  same.  These  incidents 
are  but  symptoms  of  the  disease  of  the  body 
politic,  carrying  with  them  as  well  the  evi- 
dence of  protest  and  reform.  The  people 
were  not  given  over  to  utter  debauchery. 
There  was  self  respect,  there  was  religion, 
there  was  leaven  in  the  lump. 

To  revert  again  to  tavern  vendues,  one 
unfortunate  victim  was  one  Samuel  Beach, 
who  lived  in  the  east  part  of  the  town.  The 
plaintiffs  were  George  H.  Sylvester  of  Chester- 
field   and    Fordyce    Sylvester    of    Blandford, 

159 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

"both  traders  and  joint  dealers  in  Merchandise 
under  the  firm  name  of  G.  H.  Sylvester  and 
Son."  Fordyce  Sylvester  had  a  retailer's 
license  in  town  in  the  years  1818  to  1821. 
Judgment  had  been  obtained  at  the  court  of 
common  pleas  on  the  fourth  Monday  of 
August,  1820,  in  the  sum  of  $131.80,  and 
$8.80  additional  to  cover  costs  of  court. 
The  document  bears  the  signature  of  Alanson 
Knox,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  who  was  living 
in  the  old  Eli  P.  Ashmun  house,  and  doing  a 
law  business  in  the  lower  village.  David 
Collins,  Jr.,  deputy  sheriff,  made  affidavit, 
Sept.  19,  1820,  that  he  had  taken  "One  Hog, 
and  two  Shoats  and  seven  Sheep."  The  same 
day,  having  already  advertised  the  property, 
he  sold  it  at  public  vendue  at  the  dwelling 
house  of  George  Bradley,  an  old  gambrel- 
roof  house,  standing  where  now  stands  the 
Methodist  church  parsonage.  "Sold  the 
Hog,"  the  record  runs,  "to  Alanson  Knox  of 
Blandford  in  s'^  County"  for  $4.74,  each  of 
the  shoats  for  one  dollar  to  John  Sibley  of 
Westfield,  and  the  sheep  to  Logan  Crosby  of 
Blandford,  for  68  cents  each.  Real  estate 
as  appraised  by  John  Noble,   Logan  Crosby 

160 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

and  Prentice  B.  Cook,  was  set  off  to  the 
creditors  for  use  and  improvement  by  them 
"for  six  years  and  no  more,"  which  looks  as 
if  those  enterprising  merchants  contemplated 
running  a  store  in  that  distant  section  of  the 
town. 

The  story  of  tavern  vendues  and  church 
discipline  has  been  a  long  digression,  but  a 
needful  one  to  reveal  a  little  of  the  life  of  the 
times  under  review.  When  the  sale  was  over, 
of  course  the  drinks  went  round,  and  to  the 
whole  affair,  aside  from  sorrow  or  joy  at- 
tending the  settlement  of  legal  troubles, 
there  was  added  occasion  for  visiting,  enter- 
tainment, and  to  drive  dull  care  away  until 
it  should  come  round  again  to  be  similarly 
treated. 

In  a  biographical  article  upon  Rev.  Mr. 
Keep,  President  Fairchild  said  that  there 
was  a  "famous  ball"  given  on  the  evening  of 
Rev .  John  Keep's  ordination,  "the  young  people 
expecting  a  stern  rebuke  from  the  pulpit  on 
the  following  evening."  lie  added  that  the 
rebuke  did  not  come,  but  instead,  "Mrs. 
Keep  invited  the  3^oung  women  of  the  parish 
to  gather   at   her  house   to  form   a   reading 

161 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

circle."  This  young  woman,  as  matter  of 
fact,  was  not  for  eight  m.onths  to  become 
a  bride,  and  was  hardly  likely  to  do  at  that 
time  what  she  is  said  to  have  done.  But 
that  such  a  circle  was  afterwards  formed  by 
the  aid  of  Mrs.  Keep  and  her  unmarried 
sisters  Mr.  Keep  himself  bore  witness.  The 
young  men  presently  found  the  ball-rooms 
becoming  deserted,  and  themselves  sought 
and  obtained  entrance  to  the  literary  gather- 
ings. While  convivialities  and  execution 
sales  were  going  on  at  the  taverns,  other 
influences  were  at  work,  and  so  the  life  of 
the  town  and  the  village  developed,  as  it 
always  develops  everywhere,  with  good  and 
bad  elements  commingled.  What  the  trend 
in  general  was  the  sequel  may  show. 

When  Timothy  Hatch  left  the  little  old 
house  a  half  mile  down  the  road  for  his  larger 
enterprises  nearer  town,  he  sold  the  old 
place  to  Robert  Blair,  who  may  ver}^  likely 
have  lived  there  a  couple  of  years.  The 
Blair  clan  in  those  da^^s  would  hardly  have 
known  themselves  without  one  or  more  fond 
fathers  of  the  Christian  name  of  Robert 
passing  the  same  along  down  the  generations 

162 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

to  promising  sons,  with  the  result  that  it 
now  becomes  difficult  or  impossible  to  dis- 
tinguish one  Robert  from  another.  The  old 
deacon  had  a  brother,  Robert,  who  lived 
until  1802,  and  he  and  Matthew  both  had 
sons  of  that  name,  and  there  were,  or  came 
to  be,  Robert  Blair,  Senior,  Junior,  Second, 
Third  and  Fourth.  The  Blair  genius  w^as  for 
building  and  operating  mills,  but  for  a  time 
Robert,  Senior,  and  Robert,  Junior,  from 
whichever  branch  of  the  fertile  tree  they  may 
have  sprung,  were  much  in  evidence  with  the 
Hatches  and  the  rest  who  were  building  a 
new  community  to  rival  the  old  aristocracy 
which  abode  on  the  wind-swept  heights  of 
the  town  street. 

In  1787  John  Robbins  sold  thirteen  acres 
of  land  to  Robert  Blair,  Jr.,  south  of  the 
Second  division  road  and  of  the  road  to  East 
Granville,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  main 
road  up  "from  Westfield  to  Blandford  meet- 
ing house,"  as  some  of  the  deeds  have  it. 
This  lot  of  land  surrounded,  but  did  not 
include,  the  John  Boies,  or  Walter  Shepard, 
house,  with  its  three  acres  and  changing 
owners.     The   Blairs   were   now  at   the   four 

163 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

corners,  where  for  years  there  was  a  deal  of 
business,  speculation  and  drinking,  with  all 
the  history,  comedy  and  tragedy  which  those 
things  involved.  It  is  all  like  the  complicated 
movements  of  men  on  a  chess  board.  Busi- 
ness was  built  up  and  ruined;  homes  were 
made  and  darkened.  It  was  a  veritable 
maelstrom. 

Robert  Blair,  Jr.,  is  credited,  in  the  record 
of  general  sessions,  with  an  innholder's  license 
in  1784  and  '85,  and  from  1790  to  '93,  while 
to  Robert  Blair  is  given  a  license  in  1787  and 
'88.  Father  and  son  were  without  doubt 
closely  associated.  It  is  impossible  always 
to  distinguish  between  them  in  the  records. 
One  of  the  various  Roberts  had  possession 
of  the  Hatch  tavern  for  a  little  while,  but 
not  of  the  hat  shop.  Then  the  former 
passed  to  Russell  Attwater,  in  1794,  who  in 
turn  sold  it  to  Solomon  Noble,  in  1796. 
Ownership  of  this  tavern  was  no  more  uneasy 
than  that  of  most  other  houses  on  this  corner. 

Out  of  the  thirteen  acres  bought  by  Blair, 
Vassal  White,  son  of  Dr.  John  White,  bought 
a  corner  lot  fronting  one  hundred  feet  on  the 
main    road    and    fifty    feet    on    the    Second 

164 


—  M.S 


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THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

division  road,  and  lived  in  his  own  house 
there,  whether  built  by  himself  or  by  Blair. 
He  was  a  clock-maker.  In  the  winter  of 
1794  this  gentleman  leased  his  place  for  two 
years,  beginning  Feb.  1  of  that  year,  to 
Robert  Blair  4th,  who  was  a  cardboard 
maker.* 

It  thus  appears  that  there  were  two  or 
three  houses  and  barns  on  this  corner,  of 
which  every  trace  has  long  since  passed 
away,  with  their  every  tradition.  In  May 
of  this  same  year  Robert  Blair  sold  to  Att- 
water  all  his  possessions  on  these  corners. 
They  included  three  houses  and  two  barns  on 
and  below  the  corner  between  the  main  and 
Granville  roads,  and  "a  store  across  the 
way."  These  three  houses  and  other  build- 
ings, it  would  appear,  Robert  Blair,  inn- 
keeper, was  instrumental  in  putting  up. 
But  just  exactly  where  the  tavern  was,   or 

*  The  property  is  thus  described;  "my  (White's)  present  dwelling  house 
situate  five  rods  Easterly  of  Robert  Blair  Jr.  present  dwelling  House 
with  all  the  privileges  thereunto  belonging  with  the  Garden  ad- 
joining East  and  North  of  said  house  and  all  its  privileges."  V. 
Vol.  .31,  p.  753,  Springfield  Reg.iitry.  As  the  roads  here  run  diago- 
nally to  the  four  cardinal  points,  the  phraseology  is  a  little  blind. 
The  "five  rods  Easterly  of  Robert  Blair  Jr."  may  indicate  the  Hatch 
tavern  on  the  opposite  corner,  in  which  case  the  garden  spoken  of 
would  be  situate  to  the  southeast  and  northeast  of  the  house — its 
natural  position.  Eight  days  previous  to  this  lease,  Robert  Blair 
gave  a  mortgage  of  his  "dwelling  house,  bam  and  all  other  build- 
ings."    Vol.  32.  p.  682 

165 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

where  the  taverns  were,  in  all  these  years, 
it  seems  impossible  to  say.  William  Thomp- 
son preceded  the  Blairs  in  holding  real  estate 
on  this  corner,  and  tie  maintained  a  license 
in  1785,  not  improbably  hereabout. 

Russell  Attwater  was  not  strictly  an  inn- 
holder,  but  a  licensed  retail  dealer.  Never- 
theless, he  may  not  inappropriately  find 
mention  here.  He  was  a  man  of  large  busi- 
ness capacity,  amassed  a  fortune,  and  finally 
became  proprietor  of  a  western  town,  to  use 
the  nomenclature  of  the  time.  The  town  of 
Russell,  New  York,  is  named  for  him.  He 
was  a  man  of  some  education.  He  wrote  a 
good  letter  in  an  eas}^  hand.  He  was  largely 
influential  in  the  affairs  of  this  town  while 
he  was  here.  Like  Justus  Ashmun,  he  be- 
came a  squire.  He  acquired  the  military 
title  of  Major,  and  was  promoted  to  the  full 
enjoyment  of  town  honors  such  as  were 
usually  bestowed  on  men  of  his  class.  His 
purchase  of  Timoth}^  Hatch's  house  near 
the  old  corner  tavern  has  been  noticed.  His 
conveyances  of  real  estate,  as  buyer  and 
seller,  run  into  the  scores.  Obliged  at  first 
to  mortgage  his  property  heavily,  he  cleared 

166 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

away  such  incumbrances  and  loaned  money 
somewhat  largely  on  local  real  estate,  and 
these  dealings  had  chiefly  to  do  with  property 
in  that  part  of  the  village  where  Timothy 
Hatch  had  preceded  him  by  a  little.  Par- 
ticularly, he  operated  in  three  of  the  four 
corners  where  the  Hatches  also  so  largely 
invested,  the  one  corner  which  he  seemed 
to  let  alone  being  the  house  on  the  high  bank 
opposite  the  tavern. 

We  found  Robert  Blair,  in  1785,  ensconsed 
in  the  little  house  down  the  road,  where 
Hatch  first  kept  tavern.  In  1794,  Robert 
Blair,  Jr.,  sold  this  property  to  Rufus  Blair. 
Now  Rufus  was  also  an  innholder.  He  had 
a  retailer's  license  in  1785,  and  an  innholder's 
in  1791;  sometimes  one  and  sometimes  the 
other  until,  and  including,  1794.  It  looks 
as  if  this  little  house  had  been  continuously 
a  place  of  entertainment,  or  lodging,  or 
both,  from  the  time  that  Timothy  Hatch 
bought  it.  Samuel  Porter  purchased  this 
property  in  1790.  But  he  also  owned  a 
house  near  that  of  Judah  Bement,  and  in 
1794,  bought  a  little  more  land  adjoining 
it,   fronting  six   rods   "on  the   great  road," 

167 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

and  two  rods  deep,  about  the  same  time  also 
mortgaging  his  other  property  back  to  Rufus 
Blair.  The  latter's  license  expired  in  1794, 
and  Porter  began  in  the  year  following. 

There  is  an  old  tavern  sign,  even  yet  in 
good  preservation,  with  date,  1795,  upon 
the  top,  and  bearing  the  legend,  "Porters 
Inn."  Behind  these  words  can  be  read  in 
fainter  lettering,  "Rufus  Blair."  Porter  was 
evidently  Blair's  successor  in  the  business, 
and  bought  the  same.  The  sign  is  a  precious 
relic,  the  only  one  of  the  kind  out  of  scores 
that  first  and  last  must  have  swung  over 
the  turnpikes  and  thoroughfares  of  Bland- 
ford.  It  is  interesting  as  illustrating  the 
attempt  at  artistic  and  patriotic  appeal  to 
the  wayfarer  in  its  decoration.  On  either 
side  of  the  swinging  sign,  in  the  centre,  is  an 
American  flag,  but  devoid  of  the  field  of 
stars,  the  fiag  being  overlaid,  on  one  face  of 
the  sign,  with  a  representation  of  an  anchor 
and  cable. 

The  indications  seem  to  be  that  Rufus 
Blair  conducted  business  at  his  place  down 
the  road,  while  his  successor  joined  the 
march  of  progress,  moving  up  into  the  new 

168 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

and  growing  neighborhood.  It  is  worthy 
of  further  remark  that  Samuel  Porter  bears 
the  title,  in  the  county  records,  of  "bb  D." 
When  he  bought  the  strip  of  ground  of  his 
blacksmith  neighbor,  it  was  accompanied 
with  the  prohibition  on  the  part  of  the 
grantor,  during  the  life  of  the  said  "Beament," 
to  sell  the  same  to  any  one  by  occupation  a 
blacksmith.  * 

Judah  Bement  had  his  home  and  shop  on 
the  southwest  side  of  the  road,  to  the  north 
or  west  of  the  present  library. t  He  was 
on  the  same  spot  as  early  as  1761,  and  in  all 
those  years  following  had  been  pursuing  a 
career  of  honest  industry  and  solid  worth, 
without  much  noise.  There  were  other 
Bements,  possibly  brothers  of  Judah,  but 
they  were  not  as  permanent  as  he.  Judah 
hammered  away  at  his  anvil  without  feverish 
ambition,  and  seems  to  have  emulated  the 
career  of  such  an  one  as  Longfellow's  village 
smith.  In  the  '70s  he  was  selectman  for 
five  successive  terms,  and  for  six  years  town 

*  Attwater's  license,  if  we  may  trust  the  county  records,  was  not  con- 
tinuous, and  Porter's  license  just  fills  the  gap.  It  suggests  the 
query  whether  there  was  some  contract  between  the  two. 

t  There  is  a  depression  still  in  the  orchard,  near  the  street,  on  the  grounds 
of  the  Glasgow  Hall,  recently  the  estate  of  the  late  Lewis    Parks. 

169 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

clerk,  his  hands  on  the  records  betraying 
the  fact  that  his  education  was  chiefly  ob- 
tained in  the  great  school  of  life.  He  was 
tithingman  one  year,  and  had  the  honor 
to  serve  on  the  first  committee  of  inspection 
and  safety.  Having  won  his  own  self  respect 
and  that  of  his  fellow  citizens,  he  was  content 
to  stay  by  his  anvil.  Peace  be  to  his  memory. 
Solomon  Noble,  who  has  already  joined 
the  group  of  promoters  in  innholding,  claims 
a  larger  attention  than  has  yet  been  paid  to 
him.  He  kept  at  his  business  of  black- 
smithing  long  after  he  began  running  a 
tavern,  which  covered  the  years,  according 
to  record,  1800  to  1809,  with  the  apparent 
exception  of  1808.  The  large  acreage  of 
farm  lands  which  he  acquired  in  the  five- 
hundred-acre  lots  45  and  48,  in  the  southeast 
part  of  town,  failed  to  present  permanent 
attraction  to  him.  These  at  one  time  and 
another  he  largely  disposed  of.  Indeed,  like 
Timothy  Hatch  and  the  Blairs,  he  was  not 
long  at  a  time  in  the  same  spot.  In  1796 
he  acquired  the  Hatch  tavern  on  the  corner, 
and  years  after  he  had  ceased  to  live  there  he 
continued   to   call   it   his    "Tavern   Farm   or 

170 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

Home  lot."  Without  doubt  he  hung  his  sign 
out  there.  There  is  documentary  evidence 
of  his  living  there  in  1802.  Not  any  of  the 
deeds  speak  of  him  as  an  innholder,  but  they 
do,  almost  to  the  last,  refer  to  him  as  "Solomon 
Noble  Blacksmith."  There  are  to  this  day, 
under  the  soil  close  by  the  house,  black- 
smith's cinders.  He  dabbled  in  propert}^ 
around  this  corner  awhile,  only  to  dispose 
of  it,  then  began  exploiting  real  estate  on 
both  sides  of  the  road  north  of  the  meeting- 
house in  half  a  dozen  different  lots,  near  and 
remote,  including  the  Sloper  farm  and  the 
Upson  farm — that  is,  lot  12,  and  the  Cannon 
farm,  or  lot  13.  This  last  was  just  to  the 
north  of  the  old  "Gore  lane,"  or  "Gore 
road;"  not  the  road  now  bearing  that  name, 
but  one  long  since  abandoned,  extending 
in  a  westerl}^  direction  betw^een  lots  12  and 
13,  opposite  the  parade  ground.  This  was 
in  1805,  and  there  he  made  his  home  for 
awhile  and  had  his  shop.  It  would  seem. 
too,  that  his  tavern  must  have  been  there  so 
long  as  he  lived  on  that  lot.  The  Sloper 
hou.se  did  not  come  into  his  possession  until 
several    years    later.     Solomon    Noble's    in- 

171 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

fluence  was  considerable  during  the  years 
of  his  activity  in  the  village. 

The  transformation  into  a  parsonage  of 
the  old  Hatch  and  Noble  tavern,  on  the 
comer  of  the  road  to  the  second  division,  has 
already  been  alluded  to.  That  was  in  1806. 
Mr.  Keep  cut  down  most  of  the  trees  in  the 
orchard,  for  the  cider  which  ministered  to 
conviviality  in  the  tavern  was  to  be  no  more 
in  the  parsonage.  It  is  said  that  when 
Rev.  Dorus  Clarke  succeeded  Mr.  Keep,  he 
still  further  reduced  the  orchard.  Already, 
on  the  opposite  side,  in  the  Hatch  house  high 
up  on  the  terrace,  a  doctor,  Joseph  B.  Elmore, 
had  located,  but  not  for  long,  for  he  had 
come  and  gone  before  Mr.  Keep  arrived  to 
sanctify  by  his  personality  the  tavern  stand, 
and  the  doctor's  house  was  then  in  possession 
of  Paul  and  Barnabas  Whitney,  "Traders." 
On  the  southeast  corner*  were  Moses  and 
Enos  Bunnell.  The  former  was  a  merchant, 
and  had  a  retailer's  license  in  1804  and  the 
year  following.  The  business  may  not  im- 
probably have  been  done  in  "the  store 
across  the  way." 

The  kaleidoscopic  changes  which  character- 

*  Now  occupied  in  summer  by  Dr.  Plumb  Brown. 

172 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

ized  ownership  in  real  estate  in  this  newer 
and  fast  evolving  community  are  too  many 
to  record  in  this  narrative,  already  encum- 
bered with  details.  Store  business  rapidly 
followed  the  rise  of  the  tavern.  The  mer- 
chant in  those  days  could  hardly  do  business 
without  a  license  to  sell  the  inevitable  strong 
drink.  Nathaniel  P.  Little,  one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  the  Scioto  company,  in  1802  bought 
and  almost  immediately  sold  a  store  on  the 
corner  of  the  West  Granville  road.*  Little 
appears  to  have  had  no  license.  Russell 
Attwater  kept  store  in  several  locations  in 
the  new  village.  He  was  licensed  for  about 
a  dozen  years.  One  of  his  stores  was  on 
or  near  the  site  of  the  present  library.  An- 
other was  on  the  opposite  side,  where  the 
village  store  has  been  for  now  many  years. 
He  was  succeeded  by  William  Ashley  for  a 
time,  then  came  Lyman  and  Collins.  Joseph 
Bull  was  also  on  the  southerly  location  for  a 
number  of  years.  Amos  M.  Collins  was  a 
man  of  large  business  capacity  and  immense 
influence  in  the  town.  His  retailer's  license 
ran    from    1810    to    1817    inclusive.     Joseph 

*  This  store  appears  to  have  been  located  in  the  lot  containing  the  former 
home  of  Rev.  James  Morton,  and  opposite  the  present  house  of 
Mrs.  Elisha  Shepard. 

173 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Bull  preceded  hm  by  a  few  years,    having 
both  innholder's  and  retailer's  licenses,   and 
left  a  record  of  great  activity.     The  Bradleys 
— John  and  George  and  James  and  Thomas, — 
in   combinations    of   partnership    continually 
changing,    kept    affairs    from    stagnating    on 
the  west  of  the  Keep  parsonage;  then  Luther 
Laflin  came  in,  buying  this  property,  as  also 
that  still  farther  west,  succeeding  to  Lyman 
and    Collins.     These    are   to   be    included  in 
the    all-embracing   fraternity.     The    magnifi- 
cent Laflin  elm  is  still  with  us,   scarred  by 
fire    but    yet    a    grateful    ornament    to     the 
street.     After    Luther    Laflin   was    Linus    B. 
Barnes    whose    retailer's    license    began     in 
1832.     Farther  up  the  street,  and  just  below 
the  corner  tavern,  was  Orrin  Sage,  who  also 
had  taken  a  part  in  the  metamorphoses  of 
the     Bradley     business.       This     gentleman 
carried  a  retailer's  license  from  1811  to  1833. 
These  later  business  men,  who  did  so  much 
to  build  the  town  in  the  prosperous  years  of 
the  early  nineteenth  century,  deserve  much 
more  extended  notice,  but  belong  more  fit- 
tingl}^    in    another    story    than    that     which 
occupies  these  pages. 

174 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

The  new  life  of  this  young  village  became 
further  augmented,  by  a  physician  who  is 
worthy  of  a  name  with  the  very  first,  though 
he  came  after  the  early  development  was  no 
longer  a  prophecy,  but  an  accomplishment — 
Eli  Hall,  who,  with  Luke,  perhaps  a  brother, 
bought  land  on .  the  southerly  side  of  the 
street  as  early  as  1807,  and  built  a  house  in 
1820.*  He  held  a  retailer's  license  in  1810 
and  '11  and  Luke  continued  it  in  1812, 
apparently  in  the  old  corner  tavern;  for 
when  the  Episcojjal  society  in  that  year  met 
in  annual  conclave,  their  place  of  assemblage 
was  described  as  at  the  school-house  "near 
Luke  Hall's  Inn."  The  Doctor  was  a  man 
of  abilit}^  high  standing  and  worth,  was  a 
staunch  supporter  and  trusted  helper  of 
Rev.  John  Keep  in  the  church,  and  later  be- 
came active  in  the  temperance  reform. 

That  section  of  the  old  town  street  which 
ran  from  the  burying-ground  southward 
claims  a  reminiscent  visit  from  the  student  of 
historic  Blandford.  In  part  the  story  of 
it  attaches  to  that  of  the  preceding  chapter, 
but  in  part  also  to  this  one.     It  was  really 

*  Now  Glasgow  hall. 

175 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

a  spur  from  each  street  and  seemed  itself  to 
hesitate  as  to  which  it  should  belong  to  when 
the  time  of  decision  came.  In  the  early 
days  it  was  a  much  busier  and  more  promis- 
ing location  than  its  modern  appearance  of 
sleepiness  remotely  suggests.  There  was  a 
time  when  the  business  men  of  the  new 
village  seemed  to  look  to  it  as  warranting 
development.  For  years  it  was  in  part  the 
road  to  the  mill.  Dr.  Robert  King  lived 
there  for  nearly  a  generation.  Justus  Ash- 
mun  diligently  acquired  real  estate  on  the 
west  side  of  the  road,  buying  it  piece  by 
piece.  Russell  Attwater,  Thomas  Bradley, 
Orrin  Sage,  Benjamin  Scott,  James  and 
William  Watson  and  others,  all  business 
men,  w^ent  in  there  at  or  near  the  beginnmg 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  seeming  to  expect 
a  business  future  before  that  part  of  town. 
Nathaniel  P.  Little,  the  Ohio  pioneer,  had 
a  store  on  the  corner.  It  requires  but  a 
small  makeweight  to  turn  the  scale  when  in 
unstable  equilibrium.  That  casting  weight 
was  gradually  thrown  to  the  east  instead 
of  to  the  south,  of  Rev.  James  Morton's 
corner. 


176 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

The  road  had  been  originally  laid  out 
coincident  with  the  division  line  between 
the  two  tiers  of  first  division  home  lots,  but 
had  to  be  shifted  somewhat  irregularly  to 
the  westward  in  order  to  avoid  the  ravine 
and  brook  running  through  it.  The  road  is 
now  spoken  of  sometimes  as  the  Falls  road. 
A  very  early  town  lay-out  of  the  road  was  on 
this  wise:  "Put  to  voat  to  see  if  the  Town 
will  Establish  the  Road  South  of  the  meeting 
hous  beginning  at  the  Northwest  Corner  of 
the  Rev.  m''  mortons  ortcherd  as  the  road 
now  Gos  to  the  west  end  of  the  wido  Hamil- 
tons  House  from  thence  as  the  road  now  Goes 
through  will"*  Provans  Land  from  thence 
as  the  Rood  now  Gos  through  the  Land  of 
James  Campbls  from  thence  through  James 
&  Robert  M'  Gomarys  Land  Said  Rood  to  be 
three  Roods  wid" 

Furthermore:  "Put  to  voart  to  see  if  the 
Town  will  Grant  to  the  Persons  above  Named 
three  Roods  of  Land  Laid  out  for  a  Rood  at 
the  East  end  of  the  Said  Pased  in  the 
Positive" 

"Wido  Hamilton,"  mentioned  in  this 
instrument,  claims  our  attention,  for  she  had 


177 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

an  innkeeper's  license,  as  did  her  husband 
Armour  Hamilton  before  her,  in  the  lot  ad- 
joining Mr.  Morton's  to  the  south.  As  early 
as  1742,  possibly  earlier,  he  received  a  license 
as  innkeeper  "in  the  House  where  he  now 
dwells,"  to  quote  the  record  of  the  court  of 
general  sessions.  That  license  was  annually 
renewed  until  his  death  in  1748,  or  a  little 
before.  After  that  his  wife  Agnes  continued 
the  business  for  a  few  years.  They  owned 
a  lot  in  the  eastern  section  of  the  second 
division.*  But  the  movement  of  travel  and 
business  was  not  there,  so  they  located  on 
their  first  division  lot.  There  is  repeated 
documentary  evidence  of  "widow  Hamilton" 
living  there  down  to  the  year  1778.  But 
all  traditions  of  the  place  and  the  people 
have  been  covered  up  with  the  overgrowing 
of  the  cellar  hole  by  the  sod  cropped  for 
generations  by  the  tmconscious  kine. 

If  Armour  Hamilton  occupied  a  humble 
place  in  the  life  of  the  infant  town,  he  was 
yet  a  respected  and  trusted  citizen.  He 
served  on  a  committee  to  build  the  pound, 
in  1748,  and  the  same  year  he  or  James  Cald- 

*  East  of  the  present  home  of  L.  C.  Nye  and  Son. 

178 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

well,  according  as  either  of  them  might  be 
"going  to  Boston  upon  their  Busnes,"  was 
to  negotiate  with  the  presbytery  there  for  a 
minister  for  the  people.  One  wants  to  know 
more  about  this  place  of  public  entertain- 
ment in  those  days  of  beginnings,  but  the 
volume  is  closed  which  has  grudgingly  yielded 
this  bit  or  two  of  documentary  record,  and 
affords  not  the  trace  of  a  tradition  besides, 
unless  one  may  reckon  in  the  inventory, 
which  is  dated  1748: 


a  blue  Coat  at 

£  12 

a  ('oulter  &  Share 

1-10 

a  red  Jacket 

1 

a  Cops  (Caps?) 

-10 

a  green  Coat 

4 

Pewter 

9-  8 

a  Gun 

14 

Knives  &  forks 

-IS 

a  horse 

40 

Saddle 

3 

Hollowware 

6 

a  black  Cow 

25 

Drinking  Glasses 

-IS 

a  fore  Cow  (farrow) 

25 

Case  &  Bottles 

2-10 

a  black  Heifer 

14 

Harrow  Teeth 

1-10 

a  year 

8 

a  brass  Kettle 

4-  0-0 

a  black  Calf 

5-10 

a  Pot 

2- 

a  little 

1-10 

Frying  Pan 

-15 

a  brown 

4-10 

Pails 

1 

a  60  acre  Lot 

70 

Wooden  Dishes 

-13-4 

Horse  Traces 

1-10 

Barrels 

2-12 

a  Spade 

1 

Churn 

-  S 

a  Gun 

4-10 

Wheels 

1-10 

Stillyards 

1-  5 

areel 

-  S- 

Axes 

1 

Chairs 

-16- 

Hoes 

15 

Bed  &  Clothing 

13-10 

a  chain 

1-15 

'*     "           " 

7-   S 

Tramil 

2 

"     "           " 

7-10 

Tongs 

2 

Sheep 

9-1 S 

a  Bed 

2 

Hogs 

32 

Fine  Cloth 

23 

Chest  of  Drawers 

5 

Coarse  Cloth 

26 

Table 

1-  6 

Wool 

3-  8 

Three  Glass  Bottles 

-  6 

Woolen  yarn 

4 

3  Chairs 

-  6 

Linen  yarn 

2-  9 

Coin  (Corn?) 

3 

Hay 

40 

Wheat 

3-10 

Beef 

10 

.Scythes 

1-  2 

(') 

2-  5 

Hay  fork 

-  8 

Pease 

1-10 

Tallow 

-  9 

Turnips 

2-  2 

Square 

-16 

Homelnt  &  Buildings 

500 

a  Hamer  &  axe 

-1  - 

Fire  Slice 

1 

Andirons 

3 

179 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

It  is  all  a  typical  outfit  for  a  primitive 
Blandford  home  of  the  thrifty  sort,  with 
little  to  suggest  the  wayside  inn  unless  it  be 
the  "Case  &  Bottles"  and  the  "Drinking 
Glasses."  We  do  not  read  of  town  meeting 
adjournments  there.  Altogether  it  would 
seem  to  have  been  just  a  simple  neighbor- 
hood resort,  with  those  liquid  appurtenances 
which  the  people  of  the  time  universally 
considered  as  natural  and  necessary. 

In  1771,  this  road  was  somewhat  minutely 
described  in  a  county  lay-out.  On  the  course 
from  Granville,  after  crossing  "Pebbles 
brook,"  it  was  described  as  extending  "to  a 
great  Rock  in  the  middle  of  the  River." 
Then    climbing    the    steep    hill,    it    ran    "by 

Robert    Montgomery's    fence to    a 

heap  of  Stones  near  a  path  in  the  field  about 
7  rods  west  of  Montgomery's  house,"  then 
"North  42  perch  to  a  great  red  oak  six  rods 
west  of  James  Montgomery's."  The  first 
Montgomery  named  lived  on  the  lot  first 
settled  by  Hugh  Black.*  James  occupied 
the  next  lot  to  the  north.     Not  long  after 

♦  Now  and  long  since  known  as  the  Osborne  place. 

180 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

this,  Robert  Montgomery  sold  out  his  posses- 
sions there  and  moved  up  to  Beech  hill, 
where  he  was  living  in  the  eighties  and 
carried  on  a  retail  license,  assisting  thus  in 
all  probability  in  building  up  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  Devil's  Half -acre.  James  Mont- 
gomery had  bought  his  lot  in  1761  of  Samuel 
Stewart  who  had  an  innholder's  license  in 
1759.  This  is  all  that  seems  to  be  known 
of  Stewart,  but  even  so,  it  is  another  straw 
to  indicate  that  business  was  once  there. 

The  next  landmark  in  the  lay-out  of  this 
county  road  is  a  heap  of  "Stones  on  a  Rock 
at  the  End  of  Campbell's  Lane.''  That,  it 
would  appear,  was  the  "road  to  the  mill," 
otherwise  so  called.  The  mill  was  in  the 
hollow,  but  the  miller  chose  to  live  nearer 
the  village.  About  one  hundred  rods  farther 
north  was  a  landmark  in  the  road  "4  rods 
east  of  Provin's  house."  That  was  James 
Provin.  Robert  King  settled  on  it  about 
ten  years  after  and  lived  there  about  twenty 
years,  until  his  death.*  The  next  house  to 
the  north  was  "Widow  Mercy  Provin's  house 
in  the  path,"  and  the  road  ran  three  rods 

*  The  place  is  now  part  of  the  farm  of  H.  K.  Herrick. 

181 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

east  of  it.  Next  was  mentioned  "Widow 
Campbell,"  whose  house  was  four  rods  east 
of  the  road,  which  soon  terminated  at  "a 
Heap  of  Stones  by  a  Stump  by  Berkshire 
Road  about  2  or  3  rods  from  the  comer  of 
Mr.  Morton's  fence  thirty  or  forty  rods  South 
of  Blanford  meeting  House."  Most  of  these 
homesteads  and  landmarks  are  not  so  much 
as  a  dim  memory  today.  A  few  years  ago, 
while  workmen  were  digging  a  cellar  for  a 
modem  cottage  on  this  old  road,  a  part  of  a 
gravestone  was  uncovered  and  then  built 
into  the  wall. 

"We  bring  our  years  to  an  end  as  a  sigh."* 
Into  the  lower  village,  then,  little  by  little, 
always  around  the  personality  and  tap-room 
of  the  innholder  or  licensed  retailer,  there 
was  gathered  a  community  of  resource  and 
wealth,  of  poverty,  too,  and  sorrow,  but 
withal  a  typical  community  of  the  olden 
time.  The  politician  and  lawyer  came  with 
him.  There  was  as  much  politics  to  the 
square  rod  in  and  about  these  taverns  of 
generations  gone  as  anywhere  on  earth, 
but  the  low  whisperings  and  strident  voices 

*  Psalm  xc.  9b,  American  Revised  Version. 

182 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

alike  are  all  hushed,  and  their  particular 
emergence,  except  as  results  of  town  elec- 
tions and  the  like  may  reveal,  has  become 
one  with  all  other  content  of  oblivion.  But 
the  newer  aristocracy  of  the  newer  village 
became  at  last  the  focus  of  municipal  life. 
Tradition  is  hard  to  change,  and  at  least 
until  the  nineteenth  centur}^,  and  I  know 
not  for  how  much  longer,  the  old  original 
highway  which  separated  the  first  division 
lots  by  a  north  and  south  line  continued  to 
be  known  as  the  street.  The  road  which 
claimed  the  newer  village  bulked  large  in 
the  business  and  imagination  of  the  people. 
More  and  more  it  cast  into  shadow  the  other 
road,  or  street.  This  "great  road  leading 
from  Blandford  to  Westfield,"  or  "from 
Boston  to  the  meeting  houce  in  Blandford" 
(to  quote  from  the  deeds)  waxed  greater, 
though  it  did  not  in  that  generation  assume 
the  name  which  the  old  aristocracy  had 
given  to  the  original  artery  of  town  traffic. 
Later,  when  the  old  "town  street"  was 
thought  of  as  an  inter- town  thoroughfare, 
or  as  inter-state  highway,  it  was  designated 
as    "the    County    Road    running    thro'    said 

183 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Town  to  Becket,"  or  as  "the  No.  4  Road," 
or  even  as  "the  Albany  road."  There  were 
the  first  and  ever  popular  "homelots;"  there 
was  the  meeting-house,  and  by  and  by  there 
was  a  second  sanctuary.  Taverns  there  were 
in  plenty,  some  stores,  the  pound,  the  parade 
ground.  New  homes  and  other  taverns  were 
yet  to  come,  and  a  legacy  of  life  was  still 
theirs.  But  from  the  time  that  Pease  sold 
to  Ashmun  and  to  Hatch,  and  the  latter 
with  the  Blairs  began  to  build  and  operate, 
and  these  all,  with  post  office  and  stores  and 
other  men  of  large  affairs,  clung  to  the  new 
location,  the  prestige  of  the  upper  and  more 
northerly  village  began  to  wane.  And  the 
determining  factor  in  it  all  was  the  tavern; 
not  the  meeting-house,  for  that  remained, 
or,  when  it  was  abandoned  for  a  better,  the 
new  one  rose  near  its  site.  The  tavern  was 
the  pioneer.  Its  proprietors  were  men  of 
the  church,  these  landlords,  almost  without 
exception,  and  men  of  public  spirit,  men  of 
enterprise  and  far  sight.  The  old  street 
did  not  yield  up  its  leadership  without 
putting  up  a  stiff  competition  for  many 
years.     But   one   by   one    its   taverns   faded 

184 


THE  NEW  ARISTOCRACY 

away,  its  stores  became  closed,  and  most  of 
its  houses  crumbled  into  the  cellar  or  fed 
the  devouring  flames,  leaving  too  few  land- 
marks of  the  days  that  are  no  more.  Much 
of  similar  fate  has  attended  the  modern 
village  too,  but  so  far  as  Blandford  has  a 
centre,  so  far  as  it  focuses  life  in  an  approach 
to  busmess  and  society,  it  is  still  where  the 
pioneers  of  the  newer  taverns  chose  to  locate 
it. 


185 


Chapter  Seven 
Beech  Htll 

THE  name  of  Jedediah   Smith  was  one  , 

to  conjure  by  in  the  time  of  the  first  1 

two  presidents.  Jedediah  the  elder,  J 
graduate  of  Yale  in  1750,  minister  in 
the  town  of  Granville  shortly  after,  a  Tory, 
dismissed  from  his  charge  in  1776,  departed 
for  Natchez  as  a  missionary.  He  took  his 
family  with  him  except  the  son  who  was  his 
namesake.  The  father  died  from  the  effects 
of  malarial  fever  in  the  very  year  of  his  de- 
parture for  the  South.  Already,  some  years 
before  leaving  Granville,  he  had  bought  large 
areas  in  Blandford,  including  the  farm  con- 
veyed by  the  father  to  the  son  in  1772,  on 
which  the  latter  built  his  home.  That  was 
on  Beech  hill,  far-famed  among  the  knowing 
ones  thereabout,  whether  in  social,  ecclesi- 
astical or  legal  history.  Across  the  street 
from  the  present  house,  itself  very  old,  there 
is  a  little  oblong  hollow,  the  only  remaining 
vestige  of  the  original  log  home.  A  little 
way  to  the  north  another  and  larger  house, 


BEECH  HILL 

now  a  shapeless  mass  of  wreckage,  was  built 
for  or  by  a  son  of  Jedediah  the  younger. 

Beech  hill  is  a  wide-spreading,  rolling 
plateau,  four  miles  south  of  the  village  of 
Blandford,  partly  within  that  township  and 
partly  within  the  precincts  of  Granville,  though 
distant  also  from  the  centre  of  that  town. 
It  obtained  its  name  from  the  trees  which 
predominated  in  the  forests  of  that  region, 
and  the  land  when  cleared  yielded  abundant 
crops.  In  the  days  when  New  Englanders 
loved  the  hilltops  it  was  an  ideal  location 
for  a  community.  Its  single  drawback  was 
the  fact  that  an  invisible  line  divided  it  into 
a  double  jurisdiction,  and  while  meeting- 
house, school-house  and  court-house  all 
thronged  with  life  for  a  generation,  it  could 
not  withstand  permanently  the  pull  from 
the  north  and  the  south  to  post  offices  and 
village  life.  Had  original  town  lines  been 
differently  blocked  out.  Beech  hill  would 
today  be  crowned  with  an  old-time  meeting- 
house and  the  lingering,  sleepy  dignity  of  a 
venerable  New  England  town. 

There  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  Jedediah 
Smith  was  ever  proprietor  of  a  tavern.     But 

187 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

he  was  intimately  associated  with  the  tavern 
constituency,  his  entire  career  having  been 
bound  together  with  it  both  directly  and 
indirectly.  His  business  activities  were  di- 
verse and  far-reaching.  Farmer,  lumberman, 
cider-maker,  distiller,  gentleman  and  judge, 
he  was  a  chief  functionary  in  the  life  of  the 
town.  He  was  several  times  selectman  of 
the  town  of  Blandford,  once  at  least  tithing- 
man,  and  for  many  years  judge  of  district 
court  which  sat  in  his  house.  He  repre- 
sented the  town  at  the  General  Court  in  1795 
and  1796. 

It  seems  a  little  queer  to  read  in  "Jedediah 
Smith  His  Account  Book"  the  sales  of  large 
quantities  of  brandy  and  "brandy  in  the 
spirit" — a  highly  distilled  liquor  and  sold 
at  a  higher  price  than  the  other  article — and 
then  turn  to  his  court  docket  and  read  the 
entries  of  trial  and  conviction  for  crimes  and 
misdemeanors  which  must  have  been  due 
in  part  to  the  sale  and  use  of  that  very 
spirit.  Such,  however,  were  the  times,  and 
Squire  Smith  was  only  one,  and  not  an  ex- 
ceptional, exponent  of  them.  Rev.  James 
Morton,    according   to    a   credible    tradition, 


BEECH  HILL 

distilled,    after   his   retirement,    hundreds   of 
hogsheads    of    cider    brandy.     Squire    Smith 
kept  a  "brandy  book"  which  is  not  now  in 
evidence,    though   references   to   it   are.     He 
also  kept  a   "Docket  or  Book  of  Entries." 
This,  together  with  his  account  book,  reveals 
a  marvellous  amount  of  legal  business  done 
by  him  in  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century.     We    find    him    closely    associated 
with   other   justices    in   town   and   with   the 
lawyers  of  local  residence,  one  of  whom  at 
least  won  a  national  reputation.     The  tavern 
business   is   prominent   in   all  these   records. 
Cash    was    hard    to    get,    accounts    ran    up, 
balances  had  to  be  struck,  embarrassments 
arose,    passion   mingled   with   drink   and   in- 
flamed   by    it    precipitated    a    crisis,    then 
followed  the  appeal  to  court,  perhaps  after 
violence  had  ensued  and  when  to  the  civil 
claim  a  criminal  charge   was   finally  added. 
In  the   account  book  stands  a  list  of  suits 
carried  before  him  in  the  year  1703  by  Eli  P. 
Ashmun,  numbering  not  less  than  sixty. 

There  is  a  bunch  of  execution  papers  among 
the  documents  left  by  this  country  squire, 
bearing    date    of     1810,    to    the  number  of 

189 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

seventy-four.  Nearl}"  every  one  of  them 
represents  a  Blandford  litigant  on  one  side 
or  the  other.  Similar  records  are  left  of  other 
years,  and  legal  records  of  the  first  third  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  still  treasured  in  the 
old  homestead  of  Squire  Smith,  are  measured 
literally  by  the  bushel.  A  few  of  the  papers 
of  1810  were  issued  by  other  local  judges, 
but  only  a  few.  When  Asa  Smith  was  plain- 
tiff, as  he  was  in  two  cases,  the  trial  was  under 
Eleazer  Slocum,  the  one-time  proprietor  of 
the  corner  tavern.  David  Boies  presided 
on  the  bench  in  three  or  four  of  the  cases. 
But  nearly  all  went  to  Beech  hill. 

Of  the  plaintiffs  the  tavern  men  or  licensed 
retailers  were  in  the  majority.  Eleazer  Slo- 
cum figured  in  this  capacity  once;  Benjamin 
Scott  or  the  administrators  of  his  estate, 
seven  times,  John  Lloyd  and  Job  Almy  each 
four  times,  Jo$eph  Bull  five  times,  Asahel 
Lyman,  "Trader,"  twelve  times,  and  Fred- 
erick J.  Redfield,  "Trader,"  quoted  as  some- 
times of  Middletown,  Conn.,  and  sometimes 
of  Blandford,  eleven  times.  I  have  not  dis- 
covered the  licenses  of  these  last  two,  but  the 
designation    of    "trader"    almost    proves    it. 

190 


BEECH  HILL 

Three  Blandford  men  appear  as  particularly 
unfortunate  in  the  role  of  defendants  in  this 
year  of  grace  1810.  Reuben  Parks  was  the 
victim  of  no  less  than  seven  prosecutions, 
at  the  hands  of  Eleazer  Slocum,  Samuel 
Boies,  Frederick  J.  Redfield,  Job  Almy, 
Asahel  Lyman  and  Elias  Hayden.  Heman 
Leonard,  a  clothier,  who  lived  and  ran  a 
factory  just  below  where  of  late  years  Peebles' 
mills  have  been,  had  five  executions  served 
upon  him;  Dr.  Nathan  Blair  five  also,  two 
by  Benjamin  Scott  or  his  administrators, 
one  by  Joseph  Bull,  one  by  Asahel  Lyman, 
one  by  Elias  Hayden.  Solomon  Brown,  in  a 
suit  entered  by  Job  Almy,  was  adjudged  a 
debtor  for  eighty  dollars,  and  not  finding 
wherewith  to  pay,  and  wishing  to  escape 
imprisonment  for  debt,  left  for  parts  un- 
known. A  dozen  of  these  suits  were  to  re- 
claim less  than  two  dollars  each;  one  was 
a  pursuit  of  87  cents  and  another  of  89  cents. 
One  or  two  were  yielded  in  part  by  the 
creditor.  Without  doubt  many  of  these  were 
criminal  suits,  but  the  execution  papers  give 
the  student  no  hint  of  distinction  between 
them. 

191 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

More  enlightening  as  well  as  more  interest- 
ing is  the  single  volume  of  dockets,  or  book 
of  entries  of  Squire  Smith  which  has  sur- 
vived the  wrecks  of  time.  It  exposes  to  view 
the  seamy  side  of  tavern  life  in  Blandford. 
Assaults  were  frequent.  All  kinds  of  mis- 
demeanors which  could  possibly  be  con- 
strued to  fall  under  the  ban  of  the  law, — 
since  the  opportunity  for  litigation  was  easy, 
and  drink  inflamed  the  passions, — were 
dragged  into  the  Beech  hill  court.  It  was 
the  fashion  to  complain  of  one  another's 
sins;  and  as  it  was  easy  to  run  up  costs  of 
prosecution,  it  was  not  unusual  for  the 
offender,  foreseeing  his  danger,  to  complain 
of  himself,  thus  saving  something  of  the 
expense  of  indictment  and  trial.  Weakness, 
passion,  fear  and  revenge  all  played  their 
part,  as  they  do  now,  and  very  far  more  than 
they  do  now,  at  least  in  country  towns.  It 
gives  a  strong  encouragement  to  optimism 
for  one  thoughtfully  to  study  such  a  docu- 
ment as  the  docket  of  Jedediah  Smith,  con- 
trasting the  condition  of  society  then  re- 
vealed, with  that  at  the  present,  far  as  the 
latter  may  be  from  the  ideal.     We  will  review 

192 


Road  on  Beeih    IIili, 


BEECH  HILL 

the  entries  for  a  little,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
exactness  and  truth  in  proportion,  take  up 
the  items  in  order  as  recorded. 

(1)  April  13,  1802.  "Noah  Farnum  2^ 
Came  before  me  Jedediah  Smith  .... 
and  Confessed  that  he  had  broken  the  Peace 
by  Laboring  on  the  Lords  day  at  boiling 
maple  Shugar  on  the  fourth  day  of  April." 
Adjudged  guilty  and  fined .  *  The  second  entry 
is  now  passed  over  for  extended  remark  later. 

( 3)  Joseph  Crawford  of  Western  com- 
plains against  "Solomon  Noble,  Ebenezer 
Kennedy  Enos  Bunel  and  John  Cochran 
Junr,  all  of  Blandford,"  for  assault  on  Feb.  4. 
Warrant  drawn  by  Russell  Attwater.  Kenedy 
pleaded  guilty,  the  rest  not  guilty.  Kenedy 
and  Cochran  were  declared  guilty,  the  former 
being  fined  $3.33,  the  latter  $1.00  and  costs. 

(4)  Feb.  7,  1803.  Joseph  Crawford  was 
fined  67  cents  for  "Swearing  one  profane 
Oath".  The  witnesses  were  Solomon  Noble 
and  Martin  Cannon. 

(5)  May  8,  1803.  Horace  Harrison  of 
Granville  complained  of  himself  that  "on  the 
third  day  of  February   1803  with  force  and 

*  Amount  obscure. 

193 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

arms  (he)  did  Sell  and  Dispose  of  five  Gallons 
of  Cider  brandy  to  John  Lloyd  not  having 
license  as  the  Law  Directs  to  sell  the  same." 
Fined  $6.67. 

(6)  July  9,  1803.  Henry  Kenedy  and 
Henry  Hinds,  both  of  Blandford,  fined  $3.33 
and  $2.00  respectively,  on  complaint  of  Aaron 
Fish  of  Westfield,  for  assault.  Eli  P.  Ash- 
mun,  prosecuting  attorney. 

(7)  Nov.  12,  1803.  Thomas  Pelton,  on 
complaint  of  Nathaniel  Haley  of  Blandford, 
for  assault,  pleading  guilty,  was  fined  $2.50 
and  costs. 

( 8)  Omitted  by  error,  or  error  in  original 
document. 

(9)  April  20,  1804.  Charles  Robinson  of 
Granville  complains  of  Nathaniel  Haley  that 
"the  Said  Nathaniel  Haley  of  Granville  at 
Blandford  did  profanely  Swear  in  the  words 
following  to  wit  By  God  and  Repeated  the 
Same  words  By  God  ten  times  which  is 
Contrary  to  law  &c."  Haley  fined  $2.50 
and  costs. 

(10)  June  24,  1804.  Thomas  Moor  of 
Blandford  fined  for  offence  similar  to  last 
named,  same  amount. 

194 


BEECH  HILL 

(11)  July  7,  1804.  James  Lloyd  com- 
plains against  himself  of  an  assault  on  James 
Lloyd  2""^.     Fined  $2.00  and  costs. 

(12)  Sept.  11,  1804.  James  Balow  of 
Granville  complains  that  "William  Grijffin 
of  Blandford  in  Said  County  yeoman  did 
With  force  and  armes  being  a  Traveller 
Travel  on  Said  (the  Lord's)  Day  With  his 
Carrage  on  the  highway  Leading  from  Gran- 
ville to  Blandford  in  the  East  Parish  of  Said 
Granville  and  being  Called  upon  to  Give  a 
reason  or  Cause  for  travailing  by  Said  James 
totally  refused  &  made  no  Answer  the  same 
not  being  from  Necesety  or  Charity  which  is 
Contrary  to  Law."  Defendent  pleads  guilty 
"in  part,"  "towit  for  traveling."  Fined  $4.00 
and  costs. 

( 13)  William  Boies  complains  of  himself 
that  on  October  2  "in  and  upon  the  body  of 
Duty  Underwood  (he)  Did  then  and  there 
with  force  and  arms  an  Assault  did  make 
and  him  the  Said  Duty  did  beat  and  Evilly 
Treat  and  Other  injuries  to  the  Said  Duty 
then  and  there  did  in  Evil  Example  to  others 
in  like  kind  to  offend."  Fined  $1.50  and 
costs.     Duty    Underwood  was    bartender    at 

195 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

the    Baird    tavern — later    the    Bartholomew 
house. 

( 14)  Case  of  adultery. 

(15)  Jan.  11,1805.  John  Upson  Jr.  and 
Daniel  Upson  charged  with  forgery  and  coun- 
terfeiting. Discharged  as  probably  not  guilty. 

(16)  Jared  W.  Knowlton  charges  that 
Daniel  Upson  assaulted  William  Knowlton. 
Defendant  fined  $1.00  and  costs. 

(17)  April  29,  1805.  Dudley  Williams  of 
Russell  complains  of  Samuel  Bull  for  traveling 
on  the  Lord's  day.     Not  guilty. 

( 18)  John  Bacons  gives  bonds  to  indem- 
nify the  town  "harmless  from  all  Charges  that 
might  Arise  on  Account  of  the  Child  Sworn 
upon  him." 

( 19)  Barnabas  Whitney  of  Blandford  com- 
plains of  assault  by  William  Perkins.  De- 
fendant fined  $1.00  and  costs. 

(20)  July  27,  1805.  James  King  of  Bland- 
ford  complains  that  Benjamin  W.  Robbins 
of  Westfield  "at  Blandford  with  force  and 
arms  to  wit  with  Scythes  &  Sickles  an  Assault 
did  make  in  and  upon  the  body  of  one  Curtis 
Knox  of  Said  Blandford."  Defendant  fined 
$3.33  and  costs. 

196 


BEECH  HILL 

(21)  Aug.  28,  1805.  "Cyrus  Minor  Titus 
Knox  Chester  Clark  and  Stephen  Carnahan 
all  of  Blandford  aforesaid  Labourers  on  the 
twenty  fifth  day  of  August  Instant  being 
the  Lords  day  at  Russell  in  Said  County 
with  force  and  arms  did  Goe  into  the  river 
in  Said  Russell  to  recreate  themselves  and 
Swam  in  the  water  all  which  is  against  the 
peace  and  Dignity  of  this  Commonwealth." 
Fined  $4.00  each.  (22)  The  next  day 
Daniel  Upsan  went  before  the  judge  and 
entered  complaint  of  himself  as  having  done 
likewise.     Fined  similarly. 

(23)  Oct.  5,  1805.  John  G.  Wilson  of 
Blandford,  blacksmith,  complains  in  warrant 
by  John  Phelps,  Esq.,  that  Robert  Cannon 
made  "an  Assault  upon  the  body  of  your 
Complainant  and  him  your  Complainant  with 
his  fist  Gun  Club  Stone  ax  Stick  Beat  wound 
Bruise  Smit  Struck  him  the  Said  John  G 
being  in  the  peace  of  God  and  this  Common- 
wealth."    Not  guilty. 

(24)  Nov.  16,  1805.  Ansan  Boies  of 
Blandford,  "Student  in  Physic,"  complains 
of  "John  Blair  the  third,"  in  warrant  by  Eli 
P.  Ashmun,  Esq.,  that  the  defendant  "having 

197 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

arrived  at  discretion  did  profanely  Curs  in 
the  words  following  to  wit  God  damn  you." 
Also  at  another  time  in  the  words,  "by  God." 
Blair  fined  $1.75  for  first  offense,  and  25 
cents  for  the  second,  and  costs. 

(25)  Nov.  16,  1805.  Ajax  Whitney  of 
Blandford  complains  of  "John  Blair  the 
third"  under  warrant  by  Eli  P.  Ashmun,  Esq., 
of  assault.     Blair  fined  $1.00  and  costs. 

(26)  Nov.  16,  1805.  Barnard  Shepard  of 
Blandford  complains  of  John  Blair  the  Third 
of  assault.     Blair  fined  $3.33  and  costs. 

(27)  Same  date.  Barnard  Shepard  com- 
plains of  John  Blair  Third,  in  warrant  by 
Eli  P.  Ashmun,  Esq.,  that  on  Oct.  15  "the 
Said  John  did  then  and  there  with  like  force 
&  arms  beat  bruise  and  illy  treat  and  the 
Said  John  then  and  there  with  like  force  and 
arms  the  horse  of  the  Said  Barnard  being 
thereon  riding  did  whip  frighten  and  Scare 
and  did  then  and  there  threaten  the  Said 
Barnard  with  Great  Bodily  harm."  Blair 
fined  $3.00  and  costs. 

(28)  Assault  case:  Chester  and  Norwich 
parties. 

(29)  "Hampshire  Ss. 

198 


BEECH  HILL 

"Be  it  Remembered  that  on  the  twentieth 
day  of  December  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  one 
Thousand  Eight  hundred  and  Six  Joseph  B 
Elmore  Was  Convicted  Before  me  .... 
of  Swearing  Six  profane  Oaths  and  of  Utter- 
ing four  profane  Curses 

Given  under  my  hand  the  day  and  year 
aforesaid 

Jedediah  Smith  Justice  of  the  Peace" 
"fined  $1.75 

twenty  five 
for  9  others         $2.25 


4.00 
Costs  of  Court  and  Paid  Over 

Taxed  at  6 .  00 


10.00" 
Dr.  Elmore,   it  may  be  remembered,  was 
physician  in  the  new  village. 

(3  0)    Similar  to    (29) ,  Harvey  Peebles  be- 
ing defendant.     Charge,  Swearing  three  pro- 
fane Oaths  and  uttering  three  profane  Curses, 
"for  the  first  Oath  $2.00 

for  the  second  Oath  0.50 

for  the  third  Oath  0.25 


199 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 
for  three  Curses  25  Each  0.  75 


3.50 
Costs  of  Court  Taxed  at  7  .  89 

and  Paid  Over 
Jedediah  Smith  Justice  of  the   Peace" 

(31)  Omitted  in  docket. 

(32)  March  16,  1807.  Thomas  Barnard  of 
Blandford  complains  of  assault  by  Harvey 
and  Eunice  Peebles,  "to  wit  with  Guns  & 
pistols  did  beat  bruise  &  Evil  Treat  to  the 
Great  Damage  of  the  Said  Thomas"  etc. 
Bound  in  $60  to  recognize  in  higher  court. 
Declines,  and  is  committed  "to  our  Goal  in 
Northampton." 

(33,  34,  35.)  Bondsmen,  witnesses  etc.  se- 
cured in  case  of  Commonwealth  vs.  Harvey 
Peebles;  Harvey  bound  in  $2,000  and  sure- 
ties in  $1000  each. 

(36)  Dec.  19,  1807.  Suit  between  parties 
in  Montgomery  and  Russell. 

(37)  March  18,  1870.  Duty  Underwood 
"upon  Oath  Saith  that  Nathan  Blair  of  Said 
Blandford  Physician  at  Said  Blandford  on 
the  Seventeenth  day  of  March  Current  with 
force  &  arms  to  wit  with  shovels  &  knives 


200 


BEECH  HILL 

an  assault  did  make  in  &  upon  the  Body  of 
the  said  Duty  the  Said  Nathan  did  then  & 
there  with  force  and  arms  as  aforesaid  beat 
Strike  bruise  Stab  &  wound  &  illy  treat  & 
Other  Enormities  the  Said  Nathan  then  and 
there  did  &  Committed  against  the  peace 
and  Dignity  of  this  Commonwealth."  De- 
fendant fined  $3.00  and  costs.  Dr.  Nathan 
Blair  was  one  of  the  doctors  of  the  old  aris- 
tocracy. 

(38)  April  16,  1808.  Duty  Underwood 
pleads  guilty  to  an  assault  upon  Reuben 
Blair,  "with  Stick  and  fists"  and  is  fined  $3.00 
and  costs. 

A  memorandum  of  May  7,  1808,  makes 
record  of  further  offenses  by  Harvey  Peebles, 
the  complainants  being  John  and  Francis 
Peebles  of  Granville.  Harvey  Peebles  had 
on  divers  occasions  "Threatened  the  Said 
John  and  Francis  that  he  would  by  fire 
Destroy  them  meaning  as  your  Complainants 
Veryly  believes  that  he  ^\'Ould  in  the  Night 
time  burn  the  Houses  of  your  complainants 
&  burn  them  and  their  families  therein." 
The  court  is  asked  to  require  "Securities  of 
the  Peace  and  good  behaviour."     He  is  re- 

201 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

quired  to  recognize  in  the  sum  of  $500  with 
two  or  more  sureties  in  the  same  sum,  to 
appear  at  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court  at 
Northampton. 

It  may  be  of  incidental  interest  to  quote 
the  "Bill  of  Cost  in  the  Suit  the  Common- 
wealth vs  Harvey  Peebles" 

' '  Justices  f eese  $1.25 

Simeon  Morgan  Officer     fees  Service  30 

Summoning  five  Witness  50 

Travil  32 

Keeping  prisener  10  hours  62 

Witness  John  Peebles 

attend  one  day  33 

Travel  8  miles  32 

Francis  Peebles  att  one  da}^  33 

Travil  8  miles  32 

Archibald  Peebles  att  1  day  33 

Travil  8  miles  32 

Rufus  Peebles  att  1  day  33 

Travil  6  miles  24 

Joel  Peebles  att  1  day  33 

Travil  8  miles  32 

6.16" 

There   are   other   scattering   notes    in    this 

book  of  entries,  but  these  abundantly  illus- 

202 


BEECH  HILL 

trate  the  character  of  the  whole,  so  far  as  the 
criminal  docket  is  concerned.  As  for  civil 
suits,  they  very  far  outnumbered  the  criminal 
cases,  and  were  almost  uniformly  for  small 
sums,  often  for  less  than  one  dollar.  In 
Jedediah  Smith's  account  book  there  is  a 
running  account  covering  several  years  with 
Eli  P.  Ashmun,  attorney.  In  the  year  1803 
there  are  no  less  than  sixty-one  entries  rep- 
resenting as  many  suits  with  which  this  able 
attorney  had  to  do  as  prosecutor,  himself 
being  plaintiff  in  eleven  of  the  cases.  There 
is  a  similar  account  with  Alanson  Knox  in 
1804. 

The  universal  liquor  habit  and  the  easy 
facilities  for  litigation  were  a  combination 
readily  provocative  of  quarrelsomeness. 
When  the  Butler  family  moved  to  Beech  hill 
from  Connecticut,  a  few  years  later  than  the 
legal  entries  just  recounted,  they  had  to  con- 
front this  condition  of  things.  "The  people 
were  many  of  them  ignorant  and  quarrel- 
some," wrote  Rev.  Daniel  Butler  in  a  private 
paper  of  family  reminiscences,  "jealous  of 
strangers  and  regarding  them  as  enemies  or 
victims.     For    several    years,"    he    said,    his 

203 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

father  "was  subjected  to  petty  lawsuits  by 
the  Smiths  and  Lloyds  till  they  found  they 
could  not  be  driven.  The  character  of  the 
neighborhood  gained  for  it  the  name  of  the 
Devil's  Half -acre."  Had  this  family  located 
in  a  different  neighborhood  the  special  odium 
which  the  above  remark  seems  to  cast  upon 
two  honorable  names  in  the  tovv^n  history 
might  have  attached  to  others  instead,  for 
the  records  as  cited  prove  plainly  enough 
that  such  a  spirit  was  quite  too  common  all 
over  town.  Some  of  the  town  physicians 
were  chief  fomentors  of  strife,  as  the  above 
records  bear  witness. 

Among  these  petty — often  amusing — 
neighborhood  quarrels  is  the  following,  as  of 
record : 

"I  Alexander  Lloyd  of  Blandford  do  hereby 
Certify  that  I  have  been  the  procurer  and 
Publisher  of  a  Libel  against  George  Smith  of 
Said  Blandford  and    Said  Libel   is  as   follows 

Marriage  Intended  between  Mr  George 
Smith  of  Blandford  &  Mrs  Janny  Peebles  of 
Granville 

January  4th  1804 
D  Card  Town  Clerk 

204 


BEECH  HILL 

Which  Pubhshment  I  Confess  is  A  Libel  and 
I  am  Sorry  &  A  Shaimed  of  it,  in  Witness 
whereof  I  have  Set  my  hand  and  will  that 
this  Should  be  made  as  Public  as  I  made  the 
Libel  this  22'^  day  of  December  AD  1803 

Alexander  Lloyd 
Orrin  D.  Squire" 

There  is  another  tradition  connected  with 
the  Devil's  Half-acre.  The  name  now  at- 
taches only  to  a  small  plot  of  ground  just 
below  the  old  Butler  house,  to  the  east. 
There  was  a  school-hotise  on  this  half-acre, 
where  Methodist  meetings  were  often  held. 
The  unsanctified  boys  of  the  neighborhood 
contributed  to  these  their  offering— of  dis- 
turbance rather  than  devotion,  and  from  the 
pranks  of  these  boys  and  youth  the  other 
tradition  of  the  name  of  this  locality  has 
proceeded.  It  is  recorded  in  the  docket  of 
Squire  Smith,  on  complaint  of  Philip  Phelps 
of  Blandford,  July  15,  1802,  that  Rhodolphus 
Bancroft  of  Granville,  on  the  fourth  day  of 
the  month  then  current,  "w4th  force  and 
arms  did  willfully  interrupt  and  disturb  an 
assembly  of  people  then  and  there  meet  for 
the  public  worship  of  God  in  Evil  Example 

205 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

to  others  in  like  mind  to  offend  against  the 
Peace  and  dignity  of  the  Said  Common- 
wealth." The  glorious  Fourth  had  no  claims 
in  extenuation  of  noise  by  young  America, 
when  others  thought  the  day  to  be  best 
observed  by  prayer  and  praise.  Rhodolphus 
Daid  one  dollar  and  costs  for  his  indiscretion, 
the  costs  being  listed  on  this  wise: 
"Travel  12  miles  at  4  Cents  48 

Summoning  one  witness  10 

officers  attendance  4  hours  32" 

It  is  not  said  that  this  awful  desecration  oc- 
curred in  the  school-house  on  Devil's  Half- 
acre,  but  the  Bancrofts  lived  near  there, 
and  the  witness  may  well  have  been,  though 
living  six  miles  away,  like  Bancroft  himself, 
a  devout  Methodist  who  thought  it  worth 
while  to  bear  witness  to  the  superior  sanctity 
of  praise  over  powder  on  the  Fourth  of  July. 
No  neighborhood  in  the  country  round 
about  is  to-day  more  respectable  than  Beech 
hill.  Even  in  the  ancient  time  it  certainly 
stood  not  alone  in  respect  of  occasional  law- 
lessness and  disturbance  of  the  peace.  Many 
an  ancient  cellar  hole,  now  well-nigh  concealed, 
or    perchance    with    tall    Lombardy    poplars 

206 


BEECH  HILL 

still  standing  near,  bears  witness  to  a  once 
thrifty  and  populous  condition  on  that  high 
and  wide  table-land.  Even  to-day  in  its 
loneliness  and  isolation  it  is  not  without  its 
well  tilled  fields  while  a  wealth  of  memories 
join  the  living  present  with  the  silent  past. 

Up  beyond  the  Devil's  Half-acre  a  mile 
or  so,  just  across  the  town  boundary  in  Gran- 
ville, is  the  spot,  recently  marked  by  a  bronze 
tablet  set  in  the  face  of  a  bowlder,  whither, 
in  the  spring  of  1797,  Rev.  Daniel  Bromley 
drew  the  timbers  for  the  Beech  hill  Methodist 
Episcopal  church  of  the  Granville  circuit — 
that  church  famous  in  the  annals  of  Massa- 
chusetts Methodism.  Notable  gatherings  and 
preachers  never  to  be  forgotten  were  there, 
as  decade  after  decade  the  house  aged,  the 
population  waxed  and  waned,  until  the  build- 
ing, having  stood  nigh  unto  a  century,  went 
down. 

Only  a  little  way  back  across  the  town 
boundary,  in  Blandford,  stands  the  house 
built  in  those  old  days  by  that  doughty 
Presbyterian  deacon,  Robert  Longhead,  or 
Lloyd.  His  initials  are  cut  in  the  imposing 
door-plate  on  which  the  latch  turns,  a  mcch- 

207 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

anism  wrought  in  iron,  probably  at  the  shop 
of  his  son  John,  who  was  a  blacksmith  first, 
then  an  innkeeper.  The  house  looks  young, 
and  would  bid  fair  to  stand  another  century 
except  for  the  fact  that  it  occupies  the  fateful 
territory  of  Springfield's  water  system.  It 
is  a  square,  two-story  house,  the  big  chimney 
in  the  middle,  and  the  inevitable  box-like 
front  hall,  with  crooked  staircase,  midway 
of  the  front,  toward  the  street,  while  on  the 
south  end  of  the  house,  looking  down  toward 
the  meeting-house,  the  corner  door  opens  into 
the  bar-room  of  yore, — for  the  house  was  a 
tavern.  Under  the  paper  coverings  of  the 
walls  of  this  corner  room,  which  is  the  living- 
room  of  the  present  occupants,  are  the  marks 
of  the  old  bar-room  gate,  or  portcullis,  and 
on  either  side  of  the  chimney  are  the  cup- 
boards where  the  various  liquors  were  stored. 
The  kitchen  still  has  its  great  fireplace,  nine 
feet  wide,  with  brick  oven  and  traditional 
paraphernalia  still  in  well-nigh  perfect  preser- 
vation— almost  the  last  relic  of  the  kind  left 
remaining  in  this  old  town  of  taverns. 

Here    it   was,    in    1798,    when   the    annual 
Methodist   conference   was   convened    in   the 

208 


Front   Stairway,  Deacon  Lloyd's  House 


BEECH  HILL 

as  yet  unfinished  meeting-house  near  by, 
that  Robert  Lloyd,  for  want  of  convenient 
Methodist  accommodations,  boarded  the 
Bishop  and  Rev.  J.  Lee.  The  good  men  felt  as 
though  they  were  among  the  Philistines. 
So  on  their  departure  the  Rev.  Lee,  unwilling 
to  have  his  blue  Scotch  Presb3'terian  host — 
and  a  deacon  at  that — knowing  to  the  fact 
that  his  guests  were  paying  their  own  way, 
took  the  silver  money  over  to  David  Frost, 
who  went  and  paid  the  bill.  With  such  arts 
of  worldly  diplomacy  was  the  simplicity  of 
early  Methodist  piet}^  mixed.  Then  the 
deacon's  unregenerate  boys  were  heard  brag- 
ging over  that  good  Methodist  silver  money — 
more  acceptable  by  far  than  Methodist  doc- 
trine. "Behold,  how  good  and  how  pleasant 
it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity!" 
To  return  for  a  moment  to  Benjamin  Scott 
and  his  neighborhood,  in  the  southwestern 
comer  of  the  town,  that  gentleman  headed 
a  petition  to  the  highway  commission  in 
1804,  a  petition  which  was  presently  granted, 
to  lay  out  "a  new  highway  or  Common  road 
between  the  Counties  of  Hampshire  and 
Berkshire  near  Benjamin  Scotts  in  Blandford 

209 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES       '^  || 

&  running  near  Jedediah  Smiths  in  said 
Blandford  so  on  by  Elihu  Stowes  in  Gran- 
ville to  Westfield  Academy."  The  three 
landmarks  bulked  large  in  the  thoughts  of 
the  people.  The  road  began  "a  little  to  the 
Northeast  of  Joseph  Whitneys  barn,"  thence 
proceeding,  doubtless  through  the  great 
swamp,  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  "to  the 
old  Town  road."  The  latter  was  without 
doubt  one  laid  out  in  1769,  rather  obscurely 
described  in  the  town  minutes,  and  naming 
"Jed''  Smith  Esq"  house,"  as  a  prominent 
landmark.  The  old  road  traverses  a  high 
table-land,  with  only  one  considerable  break 
in  the  contour  until  Squire  Smith's  house  is 
reached,  a  distance  of  about  four  miles  from 
the  town  and  county  bound.  From  the  little 
settlement  at  the  westerly  end  of  this  road  to 
the  Smith  house  there  is  now  but  one  per- 
manently inhabited  dwelling,  and  the  road, 
once  swarming  with  busy  and  exciting  life, 
is  grass-grown  and  almost  deserted.  There 
is  a  little  cemetery  on  the  hill,  a  mile  or  so  to 
the  west  of  Beech  hill,  and  just  on  the  westerly 
borders  of  Beech  hill  itself  are  still  standing 
the   ancient   Butler  and   Ripley   houses,   the 

210 


BEECH  HILL 

latter    the    salt-box    structure    last    occupied 
by  that  old  veteran,  Benjamin  Harris. 

Between  the  houses  last  mentioned  and  the 
little  cemetery  beyond  is  a  road  running 
northerly  at  right  angles  to  the  one  just 
described,  on  the  dividing  line  between  lots 
26  and  29  and  between  25  and  30,  until  it 
joins  the  old  Berkshire  road  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  east  of  Blair  pond.  On  the  easterly  side 
of  this  road  John  Lloyd  bought  a  farm  in 
1800,  and  presently  erected  a  small  house 
which  was  in  later  years  moved  from  its 
original  location  some  rods  to  the  north.* 
Other  cellar  holes  besides  the  one  thus  left 
exposed  are  round  about  there,  on  both  sides 
of  the  road,  in  pastures  fast  growing  up  to 
forest.  A  persistent  tradition  has  it  that 
John  Lloyd  aspired  to  cater  to  that  part  of 
the  traveling  public  who  were  in  search  of 
health,  and  advertised  as  among  the  merits 
of  the  place  a  sulphur  spring  with  healing 
qualities.  It  was  said  that  a  colored  man 
who  dug  the  well  was  cured  of  a  sore  on  his 
leg  by  virtue  of  those  waters.  But  the  well, 
or    spring,    contained    no    mineral    and    no 

*  It  has  been  known  of  late  as  the  Jefferson  Moore  place. 

211 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

sulphur  except  what  was  imported  into  it. 
Traditions  about  John  Lloyd  as  an  innkeeper 
hover  over  various  sections  of  Beech  hill. 
That  he  did  blacksmithing  there  is  certified 
by  sufficient  and  palpable  records.  The  only 
license  that  I  have  discovered  in  his  name 
dates  from  1808  to  1811,  when  he  had  charge 
of  the  corner  tavern  in  the  village. 

In  the  olden  days  Blandford  always  had 
much  to  do  with  Connecticut.  Both  com- 
mercial and  social  attractions  caused  the 
people  to  gravitate  southward  rather  than 
eastward  or  westward.  On  the  southward 
journey  from  Blandford  village  Beech  hill 
came  first,  then  one  or  other  of  the  Gran- 
villes.  Like  Blandford,  that  town  was  widely 
scattered,  but  unlike  Blandford,  there  were 
three  parishes  in  Granville,  not  reckoning 
the  Beech  hill  Methodist  church.  There  were 
the  east,  middle  and  west  parishes,  all  Con- 
gregational. From  the  Devil's  Half-acre 
directly  southward,  past  Robert  Lloyd's  and 
the  Beech  hill  Methodist  meeting-house  and 
down  the  southerly  slope  of  the  hill,  turning 
westerly  into  a  little  valley,  one  comes  to  the 
head  waters  of  the  Granville  branch  of  Little 

212 


BEECH  HILL 

river.  There  is  a  wide-spreading  meadow 
which  the  city  of  Springfield  is  about  to  flood 
with  a  reservoir,  where  stands  one  of  Gran- 
ville's fine  old  brick  residences,  made  of  clay 
from  the  home  farm.  The  house  will  soon 
be  no  more.  Following  down  the  brook  once 
known  by  the  classic  name  of  Peebles'  brook, 
but  now  for  some  unknown  reason  marked 
on  the  Government  maps  as  Borden  brook, 
one  presently  enters  the  territory  of  Bland- 
ford  again.  Rounding  the  curves  of  the 
brook,  crossing  the  same  northerly,  crossing 
again  pretty  soon  the  other  branch  now 
known  as  Peebles'  brook,  one  climbs  up  the 
steep  hill  to  the  South  street  heights.  The 
old  County  lay-out  of  this  road  was  described 
as  crossing  "Westfield  little  River,"  the 
second  of  the  brooks  just  referred  to;  then 
climbing  the  hill,  it  passed  "2  rods  East  of 
Silas  Noble's,"  and  "East  on  John  Noble's;" 
"then  the  Causey"  next,  "2>^  rods  west  of 
Thompson's  Door,"  by  "Sinet's  house"  and 
"2  rods  west  of  Wil'"  Loup-heads  Door." 
This  was  the  East  Granville  road. 

Or  the  two  streams  may  be  crossed  a  little 
higher  up,  westerly,  through  similar  chasms, 

213 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

with  a  larger  distance  intervening  between 
the  two  brooks.  The  ridges  on  either  route 
are  rugged  and  sightly.  The  upper  road 
brings  one  into  the  village  through  the 
southernmost  section  of  the  westerly  tier  of 
first  division  home  lots,  while  the  other  road 
crosses  the  easterly  tier.  The  lower  route 
entered  the  village,  a  centur}^  ago  and  more, 
over  what  is  now  Sunset  rock;  the  upper 
route  connecting  with  the  present  village 
street  just  below  the  meeting-house  hill. 
Both  these  highways  were  adopted  as  county 
roads  as  early  as  1771,  under  the  phraseology, 
"a  County  road  from  Granville  to  Blandford 
&  from  Blandford  to  Granville  again." 

There  was  another  and  nearer  route  from 
Beech  hill  to  the  village.  Starting  again 
from  Robert  Llo3'd's,  coming  directly  down 
to  the  Devil's  Half-acre,  over  a  rolling  plateau 
from  which  the  meeting-house  at  the  centre, 
the  towering  pines  of  the  ten-acre  lot  and  the 
present  village  including  the  Methodist  church 
stand  out  against  the  sky  line,  the  road  runs 
along  a  fairly  level  country  for  nearly  or 
quite  a  mile,  when  it  dips  suddenly  down 
and  yet  downward  to  the  brook  which  from 

214 


BEECH    HILL 

the  town's  almost  earliest  existence  turned 
out  the  grist  and  sawed  the  lumber  of  the 
fathers.  Here  in  this  hollow,  some  distance 
above  the  upper  of  the  two  other  routes, 
the  road  crossed  the  bridge  spanning  the 
stream  "near  Frary's  Mills,"  then  turning  to 
the  north  again,  passed  the  mills  themselves 
where  the  old  Peebles'  mill  is  now  crumbling 
to  ruin,  awaiting  the  time  when  its  waters 
shall  be  turned  to  quench  the  thirst  and  turn 
the  motors  of  the  "City  of  Homes."  This 
too  became  a  county  road  in  1802,  terminating 
at  "a  stake  and  Stones  about  30  rods  South 
of  Ashmuns  barn,"  and  was  called,  except 
that  part  of  it  lying  north  of  Devil's  Half- 
acre,  the  road  "from  the  Meeting  House  in 
Middle  Granville  to  the  Meeting  House  in 
Blandford."  It  was  this  road,  past  Stowe's 
in  Granville,  past  Squire  Smith's  and 
through  the  mill  hollow,  which  became  a  part 
of  the  highway  of  the  Eleventh  Massachu- 
setts Turnpike  Corporation.* 

*  A  part  of  this  old  road  appears  to  be  what  is  now  remembered  by  some 
elderly  people  as  "the  skunk  road." 


215 


Chapter  Right 

Social  Functions  of  the  Tavern 


THE  tavern  was  the  people's  club. 
There  they  met  together  for  the 
common  exchanges  of  life  as  they 
assembled  on  Sunday  for  their  religious 
exchange.  There  they  discussed  the  topics  of 
the  neighborhood,  chatted  with  strangers 
and  travellers,  asked  of  the  stage  driver  the 
news,  talked  politics,  and  in  fine  did  that 
which  the  modern  citizen  now  does  at  the 
club  and  over  his  newspaper. 

The  tavern  was  the  common  medium  of 
exchange.  Traditionally  it  was  the  general 
news  vender.  Public  notices  were  there 
posted,  of  town  meetings,  of  public  "vandues" 
and  everything  else.  Traditionally,  this  was 
so.  It  is  a  little  puzzling  to  find  the  town  of 
Blandford,  in  1808,  when  directing  its  officers 
concerning  the  places  where  notices  of  town 
meeting  should  be  posted,  specifying  only  one 
such  house,  namely  "at  or  near  the  house 
lately  occupied  by  John  Lloyd."     That  seems 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

to  have  been  on  Beech  hill,  or  at  the  little 
inn  with  the  fake  sulphur  spring.  The  other 
places  were  the  meeting-house — another  tra- 
ditional location — the  guide  post  near  Cor- 
nelius Cochran  in  the  second  division,  the 
brick  school-house  near  Samuel  C.  Gibbs,  and 
the  blacksmith  shop  then  occupied  by  Ezra 
Jackson  in  the  west  part.  By  1830  the 
places  for  such  notices  were  shifted,  by 
public  vote,  to  the  town  house.  Pease's  mill, 
the  guide  board  in  the  second  division  near 
Mr.  Nutt's,  Lyman  Gibbs's  store  in  North 
Blandford,  and  the  school-house  near  Mr. 
Eli  Shepard's — not  a  public  inn  among  them, 
though  there  was  one  licensed  store. 

Blandford  taverns  had  their  full  share  of 
entertaining.  The  town  was  on  a  principal 
highway  of  through  travel,  whether  in  peace 
or  war.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  change 
going  on  in  the  population.  Not  a  few  re- 
turned, permanently  or  otherwise,  to  Hop- 
kinton.  New  settlers  came.  The  town  grew 
in  population,  business  and  wealth  as  soon  as 
the  wars  were  over.  Many  of  the  swains 
brought  home  their  brides  from  abroad.  Par- 
ticularly, there  was  a  Scotch- Irish  circuit  of 

217 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

towns  throughout  New  England  and  Eastern 
New  York,  whose  people  had  much  to  do 
with  each  other.  They  were  more  or  less 
clannish,  and  were  apt  to  intermarry  within 
the  limits  of  their  own  race.  This  combina- 
tion of  conditions  tended  to  keep  Blandford 
true  to  her  racial  traditions  at  the  same  time 
that  her  people  were  brought  into  contact 
with  the  larger  world. 

Neither  Puritan  New  England  nor  that 
accretion  of  Scotch  Presbyterianism  which 
came  in  with  the  immigrants  of  1718  w^as  un- 
social, notwithstanding  certain  laws  and  tra- 
ditions seeming  on  the  face  of  them  to  con- 
tradict such  a  statement.  New  England 
people  had  an  ingrained  hatred  of  pauperism, 
a  deep-seated  suspicion  of  vagrancy  or  irre- 
sponsibility, a  strong  respect  for  thrift  and  a 
sufficient  appreciation  of  what  it  meant  to 
pay  taxes  and  support  the  institutions  of 
civic  life,  to  cement  these  qualities  of  mind 
thoroughly  together.  In  pursuance  of  such 
sentiments  and  convictions,  Massachusetts, 
as  early  as  1637,  passed  a  law  forbidding  any 
town,  under  penalty  of  a  heavy  fine,  enter- 
taining any  stranger  for  a  longer  period  than 

218 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

three  weeks.  Allotment  of  land  to  strangers 
was  furthermore  carefully  guarded.  In  pur- 
suance of  this  law  it  became  the  business  of 
the  constable,  in  behalf  of  the  State,  or 
county,  or  town,  to  repair  to  the  house  to 
which  any  stranger  had  come,  and  warn  him 
out  of  town.  This  did  not  mean  that  the 
stranger  must  necessarily  go  right  off,  if  at 
all.  But  it  was  at  least  a  legal  measure  to 
free  the  town  from  liability  for  his  mainten- 
ance should  he  prove  himself  incompetent  of 
self-support.  Sydney  George  Fisher*  tells 
of  a  Virginian  who  had  been  much  in  New 
England,  and  who,  as  soon  as  he  arrived  at 
an  inn,  used  always  to  summon  the  master 
and  mistress  and  all  the  strangers  who  were 
about,  and  make  a  brief  statement  of  his  life 
and  occupation,  and  having  assured  them 
that  they  could  know  no  more,  would  then 
ask  for  his  supper.  Franklin,  when  he  was 
travelling  in  New  England,  adopted  a  similar 
plan.  The  situation  developed  both  humor 
and  pathos.  Somewhere  on  occasion,  so  Mr. 
Fisher  tells,  the  sheriff  appeared  before  a 
woe-begone    intruder   who   failed    to    under- 

*  In  his  "Men,  Women  and  Manners  in  Colonial  Times,"  p.  205. 

219 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

stand  the  formality,  and  said,  half -laughing, 
"I  warn  you  off  the  face  of  the  earth."  The 
hapless  innocent  fled  post  haste. 

The  law,  however,  was  by  no  means  a  dead 
letter,  as  hosts  of  entries  in  the  town  records 
show.*  As  has  been  intimated,  the  warning 
was  read  in  the  presence  of  the  stranger,  then 
the  official  registry  was  made.  So  the  tavern 
became  the  frequent  scene  of  this  serio-comic 
performance.  The  result  was  that  many  a 
stranger  who  by  his  or  her  circumstances  or 
habits  became  known  as  a  prospective  public 
charge  was  conveyed  away  out  of  town, 
preferably  to  the  presumed  place  of  citizen- 
ship. 

A  few  samples  of  entries  on  the  town 
records  are  transcribed: 

Nov.  10,  1760.  "Granted  Sixteen  Shillings 
and  Six  pence  for  warning  and  Caring  persons 
out  of  town  to  John  Wilson  Constabel." 

Sept.  9,  1775.  "Granted  to  matthew  Blair 
Six  Shillings  for  Carriing  two  women  out  of 
town  that  was  like  to  be  a  town  Charge." 

March  3,  1779.  "Granted  to  D"  Samuel 
Boies    and    Judah    Bement   one    Pound    ten 

*  The  entries  are  left,  some  of  them,  in  the  town  records.     Some  of  them 
are  within  keeping  of  the  clerk  of  courts  of  the  county. 

220 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

Shillings  for  Carrying  two  Sick  Soldiers  to 
Westfield." 

Aug.  16,  1779.  "Granted  to  Samuel  Fer- 
guson Three  pound  eight  Shillings  for  going 
to  Westfield  to  get  a  warrant  to  Carry  Marg' 
How  out  of  Town." 

"Granted  to  John  Scott  Six  pound  for 
Service  done  to  the  Town  in  Taking  Marg' 
How  with  a  Warrant  and  going  to  a  Lawyer 
to  take  Advice  about  the  same  by  order  of 
the  Select  men" 

April  2,  1781.  "Granted  to  Sam"  Cannon 
Fifty  pound  Continental  money  for  carrying 
a  Woman  from  Blanford  to  Louden  &  from 
Blanford  to  Westfield  By  Order  of  the  Select 
men." 

Nov.  8,  1781.  "Granted  William  Crooks 
Constable  ten  Shillings*  for  Carrying  a  Negro 
to  Westfield." 

Jan.  25,  1785.  Granted  to  Samuel  Boies  2'^ 
Eight  Shillings  for  Caryng  Sary  Brown  & 
Children  to  Becket  by  Warrant" 

"Granted  Samuel  Sloper  Six  Shillings  for 
Entertaining  Sary  Brown  3  Days" 

"Granted  to  John  Cochran  Six  Shilling  for 

*  Hard  money. 

221 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Transporting  a  family  out  of  Town  by 
warrant." 

■'Granted  Reuben  Boies  four  Shilling  for 
Entertaining  a  poor  family." 

"Granted  John  Cochran  Eight  Shilling  for 
Caring  a  poor  family  out  of  Town  When 
Constable" 

A  document  filed  with  the  clerk  of  courts 
at  Northampton,  is  of  interest  from  several 
points  of  view.  "Pursuant  to  a  Warrant 
under  the  hands  of  the  Select  men  of  the 
Town  of  Blandford  bearing  date  of  the  24'^ 
of  December  1759  Daniel  Murphy  Eleanor 
Murphy  his  wife  Edmund  Murphy  Daniel 
Murphey  who  came  from  Sambreey.*  The 
widow  Susannah  Phelps  Samuel  Phelps  Sus- 
anna Phelps  jun'"  who  came  from  the  nine 
partners — The  widow  Katherine  Kar  William 
Kar  James  Kar  Eleanor  Kar  Katherine  Kar 
Junior  Who  came  from  Westfield  George  M*^ 
Murag  who  came  from  Kenderhook  and  Mary 
Phelps  who  came  from  the  nine  partners  and 
Frederick  Murphey  who  came  from  Sam- 
breey  on  the  Last  day  of  the  same  December 
were  warned  forthwith  to  depart  and  leave 
said  Town  of  Blandford  by  Glass  Cochran 

•  Simsbviry,  Ct.  ? 

222 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

Constable   of   said    Blanford   as   pr   Warrant 
and  return  on  file  appears. 

Feb.  12,  1760." 
There  is  a  headstone  in  the  old  burying 
ground  which  bears  this  inscription : 

In  Memory  of  Miss  Eleanor 

Ker,  who  died  Marcji  27  AD 

1778  aged  27  years.     Daughte'' 

of  M*"^  Katharine  rehet  of  M"" 

WilHam  KER  who  was  slain 

by  the  Indians  at  fort  George 

in  a  morning  scout  August 

4,  1757.     Aged  46. 

band, 
There  fell  the  parent  by  the  savage 

hand,  g 
Here  I  was  snatched  by  deaths  unerrin 

has  done 
Now  gentle  reader  see  what  death 

sertain  doom. 
And  humbly  wait  your  own  your 

This  tells  something  of  the  story  of  the  Ker 
family.  They  stayed  in  town  and  none  ap- 
pears to  have  become  a  public  charge.  As 
for  "Frederick  Murphey,"  the  following  items 
from  the  town  records  will  testify. 

Dec.    3,     1766      "Granted    Cap'     William 


223 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Carnahan  Nine  Shillings  for  keeping  and 
Carring  fradrack  to  westfield 

"Granted  to  william  Brown  one  Shilling  & 
Six  pence  for  hors  to  westfield  to  Carry 
fradrack  merphy."*  The  warrant  seems  to 
have  held  good  for  over  a  half  a  generation. 

Blandford  landlords  seem  to  have  had  some 
unusual  antipathy  to  the  office  of  constable — 
rather  contrary  to  New  England  tavern 
traditions, — but  a  careful  reader  of  these 
pages  will  find  some  familiar  names,  after 
all,  among  those  who  served  their  town  as 
indicated  in  the  above  items. 

Certain  wayfarers  had  proceeded  to  the 
town  of  Springfield  in  September,  1746. 
Forthwith,  as  the  official  records  of  the  county 
set  forth,  they  were  warned  to  depart. 
"Pursuant  to  Warrant  under  the  hands  of 
the  Selectmen  of  the  Town  of  Springfield 
John  McKinstry  and  Jinny  his  wife  and  John 
their     Child   ....    Robert     Hazzard    and 

*  Others  who  were  "legally  warned  to  depart"  as  found  in  the  town  records 
are  the  following:  Robert  Hamilton  "and  mary  his  wife,"  1760; 
"mary  Loughead."  wife  of  John  Loughead,  "mary  Ross,"  "Agnes 
Welch  and  Elizabeth  her  Child,"  1 760;  James  Freeland,  Aug.  24, 
1761;  John  Hobbs,  April.  1766;  Jacob  Parker,  Aug.  22,  1766; 
William  Peterson,  Feb.  17,  1767;  Grace  Phelps,  Dec.  7,  1771.  she 
was  from  Westfield  "and  is  now  residing  at  the  house  of  James 
Bairds  Junr.  John  Baird,  Constable."  The  names  are  to  be  found 
chiefly  in  the  files  of  the  clerk  of  courts,  and  I  have  not  collected 
them. 

224 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

Margaret  his  Wife  .  .  Transient  persons,  was 
by  Caleb  Ely  Worned  forthwith  to  depart  and 
leave  Said  Town,  as  p*"  said  War'  on  file  appears" 
Of  this  company  at  least  John  and  "Jinny" 
McKinstry  appear  to  have  been  on  their  way 
to  Blandford,  where  they  settled  down.  They 
had  doubtless  been  found  at  the  tavern. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  regulations 
had  been  very  strict.  The  Boston  town 
records  of  1723  required  that,  inasmuch  as 
"great  numbers  have  very  lately  been  trans- 
ported from  Ireland  to  this  Province,"  in  the 
fear  that  they  might  become  chargeable,  they 
should  be  registered.  Even  in  the  eighteenth 
century  Boston  was  requiring  notice  to  the 
town  authorities  on  the  part  of  any  who 
desired  to  entertain  strangers.  "Harboring 
strangers,  and  even  relatives,  was  a  constant 
source  of  bickering  between  authorities  and 
citizens,  and  between  different  towns.  The 
purchaser  of  a  slave  was  responsible  to  the 
town  for  maintenance.  Householders  did 
not  let  or  hire  without  interference."*  Bland- 
ford  town  records  show  several  instances  of 
the   registry   with   the   town   clerk — possibly 

*  These  facts  and  excerpts  are  taken   from   "The  Economic   and  Social 
History  of  New  England,"  by  William  B.  Weeden. 

225 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

the  same  was  published  in  the  tavern — of 
visitors,  hired  help  or  tenants.  Is  it  any 
wonder  that  the  rural  New  Englander,  who  is 
true  to  his  heritage,  to  this  very  day  looks 
out  of  his  window  to  see  who  passes  his  door, 
and  in  the  evening,  at  "the  store,"  pronounces 
judgment  on  his  fellow  men,  stranger  and 
homeborn  alike?  And  is  it  not  in  the  line 
of  tradition  also  that  the  modernized  local 
reporter,  with  all  the  arts  of  the  inquisition 
except  that  of  physical  torture,  discovers 
and  spreads  on  record  for  all  the  curious 
world  to  read,  who  thou  art  and  the  words 
thou  speakest  in  thy  bedchamber  ? 

The  drinking  habits  of  the  people  of  all 
New  England  as  well  as  of  our  little  town 
were  so  centralized  and  represented  by  the 
tavern,  and,  as  the  years  moved  on,  by  the 
store  so  generally  licensed  to  deal  in  liquors, 
as  to  merit  some  further  notice  than  has  yet 
been  given  to  them  in  these  pages.  Cider 
drinking  was  universal,  at  home  and  abroad. 
The  apple  orchard  was  planted,  pruned  and 
thought  of  in  this  connection  almost  solely. 
Hence,  the  zeal  of  pastor  Keep  in  his  first  and 
single-handed  fight  against  the  liquor  habit 

226 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

began  with  the  parsonage  orchard.  Cider 
was  drunk  at  home,  was  given  to  babies, 
was  consumed  by  fine  ladies  and,  with  a 
brace  of  rum  added  to  it,  by  farmers  in  the 
hay  field.  It  was  served  to  guests  at  the 
taverns  regularly  "with  their  vittles."  Rum 
was  also  much  used  by  the  common  people. 
Samuel  Sloper  sold  immense  quantities  of  it. 
This  beverage  reached  the  height  of  its 
popularity  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  there  were  more  than  three- 
score distilleries  in  Massachusetts  turning 
molasses  into  rum.  It  was  the  moving  power 
in  all  commerce,  and  was  the  life  of  the  West 
India  trade.*  Later  brandy  became  popu- 
lar. This  was  made  in  large  quantities  in 
Blandford,  notably  by  Jedediah  Smith.  Irish 
and  Scotch  settlers  generally  made  whiskey 
from  rye  and  wheat,  barley  and  potatoes, 
even  from  corn. 

Of  course  this  sort  of  thing  could  not  go  on 
for  ever  without  some  lurid  consequences. 
I  have  been  told  by  an  old  resident  familiar 
with  the  family  traditions  that  in  a  certain 
section  of  the  town,  now  mostly  deserted  of 

*  V.  Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England,  p.  641. 

227 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

inhabitants,  it  was  hard  to  find  a  family  that 
had  not  lost  some  member  by  death  from 
delirium  tremens.  Says  William  H.  Gibbs:* 
"Tradition  informs  us  that  in  those  days 
the  man  who  could  drink  the  most  and  walk 
the  straightest  was  the  best  fellow.  Indeed, 
some  of  our  ministers  were  not  entirely  free 
from  this  habit.  It  is  said  that  one  of  them 
was  frequently  so  excited  with  ardent  spirits 
that  he  would  preach  until  sunset.  This 
town  was  settled  with  'Scotch- Irish'  with 
increasing  habits  of  intemperance,  which 
elicited  the  following  remark  from  a  gentle- 
man residing  in  Springfield,  while  passing 
through  the  town.  Looking  at  the  old 
church,  he  said,  'You  have  a  high  church  and 
a  low  steeple,  a  drunken  priest  and  cursed 
people.'  "  Such  traditions,  once  they  have 
become  fixed  and  passed  along,  have  lost 
nothing  in  the  progress  of  transmission. 
Rev.  James  Morton  was  convivial,  but  he 
was  not  drunken,  if  we  may  trust  the  findings 
of  more  than  one  ecclesiastical  council  con- 
vened to  examine  and  pass  upon  his  character 
and  measures.     Rev.  H.  L.  Hastings,  of  more 

*  Historical  Address,  p.  49. 

228 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

than  local  fame,  a  native  of  Blandford,  stated 
in  an  historical  address  about  ten  years  ago: 
"I  know  an  old  cellar  in  the  town  of  Blandford 
where  I  have  been  told  that  200  barrels  of 
cider  have  been  stored  in  the  fall,  and  rolled 
out  in  the  spring  and  distilled  into  brandy, 
which  was  drank  and  sold;  and  the  man 
who  owned  that  cellar  was  a  preacher  of 
the  gospel."  That  was  undoubtedly  "priest 
Morton." 

Now  if  all  this  were  the  only,  or  the  chief 
thing  which  might  be  said  of  these  times 
and  these  men  and  women,  it  would  better 
be  forgotten.  The  fact  is,  the  town  of 
Blandford  was  in  those  old  days  a  shining 
example  among  almost  countless  towns 
whose  illustrious  sons  and  daughters  and 
whose  common  folk, — unnamed  and  for- 
gotten as  individuals  by  this  generation, 
except  as  Colonial  Dames  and  Sons  and 
Daughters  of  the  Revolution  and  what-not 
are  bedecking  themselves  with  honor  be- 
cause of  these  self-same  people  of  the  olden 
time, — made  New  England  to  be  what  she 
has  been.  If  now  and  then  there  was  a 
Falstaff,.  there   were   also   kings   and   queens 

229 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

and  princes  and  princesses  among  men.  The 
point  is,  these  people,  some  of  whom  have 
been  named  in  these  pages — and  not  to  the 
shame  or  embarrassment  of  any  right-spirited 
descendant — were  men  and  women  of 
strength  and  nobihty  as  well  as  of  occasional 
infirmity.  For  the  most  part,  as  we  have 
observed,  the  chief  exponent  of  this  business, 
the  taverner,  and  often  his  cousin,  the  licensed 
store  keeper,  were  true  builders  of  society. 
That  passion  and  the  trail  of  disaster  and 
sorrow  followed  often  upon  their  careers  is  so 
trite  a  fact  as  now  to  be  taken  almost  for 
granted,  and  the  more  so  as  the  decades 
multiplied  and  societ}^  passed  from  the  primi- 
tive condition  to  the  more  complex  life.  Yet 
it  becomes  our  quest  to  dwell  a  little  more 
explicitly  on  this  deepening  shadow  before 
we  leave  it. 

The  story  of  mortgages  and  execution 
sales  has  been  only  hinted  at.  The  detail 
of  it  all  is  too  dry  and  infinitesimal  for  these 
pages.  They  count  up  by  the  score,  and  with 
a  fatal  tendency  lead  to  the  door  of  the 
tavern  or  licensed  grocery.  Perry  Button 
had  a  farm  and  saddler's  shop  down  in  the 

230 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

neighborhood  where  the  Hatches  and  Blairs 
with  Solomon  Noble  and  Russell  Attwater 
figured  so  prominently.  This  interesting  in- 
dividual was  ever  in  hot  water  with  Ben- 
jamin Scott  or  some  other  landlord,  until  it 
became  a  question  whether  his  whole  estate 
would  not  slip  out  from  under  him.  Archi- 
bald Black  liquefied  large  acres  in  like  manner 
at  Capt.  Pease's  bar-room.  Dr.  Little  suf- 
fered similarly  for  too  much  tarrying  with 
Solomon  Noble  and  Eleazer  Slocum.  Giles 
Dayton  fell  into  the  toils  at  Scott's  and 
Bunnell's,  but  nobly  retrieved  himself  for 
discipleship  to  Methodism  and  temperance 
reform.  Simeon  Morgan  paid  over  too  freely 
at  the  bar  of  Joseph  Bull,  and  perhaps  of  others, 
to  the  extent  of  bankruptcy,  having  involved 
himself  inextricably,  if  not  criminally,  with 
funds  of  the  town  and  of  the  church.  And 
so  it  went.  The  earh^  Washingtonian  move- 
ment and  its  succeeding  phases  of  temper- 
ance reform  produced  history  in  Blandford  as 
well  as  elsewhere,  and  the  records  of  these 
societies  throw  some  additional  light  on  the 
conditions  which  the  movement  had  to  meet. 
Some  statistics  were  gathered  in  1834  under 

231- 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

direction  of  a  county  organization,   and  re- 
ported first  to  the  local  society  as  follows : 

"Population  of  the  town,  1,600;  members 
of  the  society,  400;  number  who  have  re- 
nounced the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits,  2; 
number,  including  taverns,  still  continuing 
the  traffic,  3;  quantity  of  ardent  spirits  sold 
last  year,  700  gallons;  expense  thereof ,  $1,000; 
no  paupers  in  town;  criminals  prosecuted 
the  last  year,  4;  expense  of  prosecution,  $40; 
two  small  distilleries  in  town."  The  next  year 
the  committee  reported  a  m.embership  of 
"about  450,"  and  that  there  were  four 
grocery  stores  in  town,  none  of  them  selling 
liquor,  with  one  inn,  and  one  innholder 
dispensing  the  beverages. 

In  1844  the  temperance  organization  re- 
ported these  findings: 

Total  number  of  public  houses  in  Blandford,  17, 

Whole  number  of  occupants  39, 

Number  that  lost  all  their  property  18, 

Number  that  left  no  better  as  to  property  18, 

Number  that  made  property  3, 

Number  that  became  intemperate  15, 

Number  of  wives  that  became  intemperate  4, 

Number  of  sons     "  "  "  26, 

Number  of  daughters  that  became  intemperat'  4, 

232 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

Number  that  died  in  the  poor  house  1 , 

Number  who  died  of  dehrium  tremens  3, 

all  of  which  is  a  sufficiently  gruesome  show- 
ing. One  may  discount  the  figures  a  little 
for  the  sake  of  impartial  truth,  and  have 
enough  left  to  justify  abundantly  the  reform 
movement  whose  organization  had  but  fairly 
begun  where  the  limits  of  our  story  have  been 
reached. 

The  Old  Farmer  s  Almanac  was  in  the  field, 
widely  circulated.  In  its  sphere — and  it 
was  large — it  yielded  an  immense  influ- 
ence. It  doubtless  reflected,  in  all  particu- 
lars touched  upon,  the  true  condition  of 
rural  society,  when  it  made  these  sallies  in 
its  edition  of  1812  : 

(April)  "  'Heigh-ho-hum!  Here,  John,  take 
the  jug  and  run  down  to  'Squire  Plunket's 
and  get  a  quart  of  new  rum.  Tell  him  to  put 
it  down  with  the  rest  and  I'll  pay  him  in  rye, 
as  I  told  him.  Come,  Eunice,  hang  on  the 
tea-kettle  and  let  us  have  some  sling  when 
John  gets  back.  Wife,  how  long  before 
breakfast?'  'Alas,  husband,  where  is  this  to 
end?  Our  farm  is  mortgaged,  you  know; 
the   mare   and   colt   are   both   attached;   last 

233 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

week  the  oxen  were  sold;  and  yesterday  the 
blue  heifer  was  driven  away;  next  goes  our 
grain  and  at  last,  I  suppose,  I  must  give  up 
my  wedding  suit,  and  all  for  sling!  A  plague 
on  the  shopkeepers — I  wish  there  was  not  a 
glass  of  rum  in  the  universe!  Now,  husband, 
if  you  will  only  spruce  round  a  little,  like 
other  men,  and  attend  to  business,  I  have  no 
doubt  we  can  get  along.  See  Capt.  Sprightly, 
he  is  up  early  and  late,  engaged  in  business. 
He  lets  no  moment  pass  unimproved.  See 
even  now,  while  we  are  but  just  out  of  bed, 
he  has  been  this  hour  with  his  boys  in  the 
field!  Why  can't  we  be  as  earnest,  and  as 
cheerful,  and  as  prosperous  as  they?  Come, 
come,  hus,  let  us  make  an  effort.'  " 

(July)  "  'There,  there!  run,  John,  the  hogs 
are  in  the  cornfield;'  cried  old  lady  Lookout, 
as  she  stood  slipshod  over  the  cheese-tub. 
'I  told  your  father,  John,  that  this  would  be 
the  case;  but  he  had  rather  go  day  after  day 
up  to  'Squire  Plunket's  to  drink  grog  and 
swap  horses,  than  to  be  at  a  little  pains  to 
stop  the  gap  in  the  wall,  by  which  he  might 
prevent  the  destruction  of  our  beautiful  corn- 
field ;  and  then,  Johnny,  you  know  if  we  have 

234 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

corn  to  sell  we  can  afford  to  rig  up  a  little  and 
go  and  see  your  aunt  Winnypucker's  folks.' 
'Aye,  aye,  mother,  let  us  mind  the  main 
chance,  as  our  minister  told  us  the  other 
day.  You  look  to  your  cheese-tubs,  I'll  see 
to  the  hogs,  and  with  a  little  good  luck,  by 
jinks,  mother,  we  may  be  able  to  hold  up  our 
heads  yet.'  "* 

The  forceful  editor  of  the  Old  Farmer's 
Almanac  might  have  come  to  Blandford  as 
well  as  to  any  other  town  in  the  country  for 
facts  and  incidents  to  write  up  the  above 
quoted  paragraphs.  He  would  have  found 
them  in  Jedediah  Smith's  records,  and  the 
records  of  mortgages  and  executions  in  the 
files  in  Springfield,  as  well  as  in  neighborhood 
gossip.  Sling  was  a  modern  drink  having 
gin  for  its  basis,  and  to  a  not  inconsiderable 
extent  it  seems  to  have  displaced  flip,  and 
not  by  w^ay  of  improvement.  Execution 
papers  are  now  in  evidence  in  the  old  Beech 
hill  court-house,  in  which  evidence  is  docu- 
mentary that  sling  abundantly  paved  the 
way  to  the  sorrows  of  debt  and  insolvency. 

The  fact  hardly  needs  demonstration  that 

*  Quoted   from  George  Lyman   Kittredge's   "The  Old   Farmer   and   His 
Almanac." 

235 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

the  tavern,  important  and  necessary  as  it 
was,  was  far  from  sufficient  in  itself.  The 
weakness  was  inherent.  But  it  was  incidental 
nevertheless.  The  positive  contribution 
which  this  institution  made  to  New  England 
life  was  greater  than  the  curse  which  shadowed 
it. 

There  remains  to  be  indicated  something 
of  the  peculiarly  facile  part  which  the  way- 
side inn,  as  illustrated  in  this  little  town  of 
Blandford,  took  in  the  development  and  ex- 
pression of  stratifications  of  old  New  England 
society.  Speaking  of  the  closing  years  of  the 
seventeenth  century  and  the  period  imme- 
diately following,  William  M.  Weeden,  al- 
ready quoted  in  these  pages,  says:*  "New 
England  society  in  this  period  was  working 
through  its  English  traditions  of  rank  and 
prestige,    and    settling    into    new    codes    of 

manners Mark  the  change  the  New 

Englander  made.  He  believed  that  whatever 
was  general,  public,  social,  belonged  all  to- 
gether, and  he  would  have  his  share,  be  he 
poor  or  rich,  high  or  low  in  estate.  The 
tendency  toward  fixed  ranks,   and  anything 

*  Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England,"  p.  281. 

236 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

like  nobility  of  person,  to  be  acknowledged 
and  confirmed  by  the  community,  was  re- 
pudiated by  the  mass  of  the  citizens.  There 
were  institutions  of  property,  no  institutions 
of  rank."  The  deeds  and  the  pew  lists  of 
the  old  New  England  town  afford  the  chief 
bases  of  calculation  as  to  the  ancient  ideas 
which  obtained  in  respect  of  title  and  rank. 
But  it  is  hard  to  find  out  all  that  one  would 
like  to  know  about  it.* 

It  should  be  recognized  that  old  New 
England  never  had  any  considerable  popula- 
tion which  could  rightly  be  called  a  peasantry. 
The  rank  and  file  aspired  to  the  dignity  of 
yeomanry  and  for  the  most  part  abundantly 
attained  unto  it.  To  write  "yeoman"  after 
one's  name  was  to  signify  a  degree  of  in- 
dependence, thrift  and  self-respect  worthy 
to  originate  or  perpetuate  the  best  traditions 
of  a  State.  It  implied  the  fact  of  land  owner- 
ship, and  the  probability,  though  not  the 
necessity,  of  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  by  the 

*  I  have  searched  diligently  for  some  monograph  on  the  subject,  but  in 
vain.  Almost  every  respectable  writer  on  old  Puritan  times  and 
customs  in  New  England  devotes  a  paragraph,  or  possibly  a  page  or 
two  to  this  subject,  but  that  is  all.  I  have  inquired  of  public  libra- 
rians, to  be  turned  away  with  sympathy,  yet  with  no  substantial  aid.  I 
ventured  to  address  a  letter  of  inquiry  to  perhaps  the  most  volumin- 
ous and  distinguished  writer  on  these  and  kindred  matters.  Rightly 
or  wrongly  I  inferred  from  this  author's  silence  that  more  knowledge 
of  the  subject  is  a  desideratum  for  others  as  well  as  for  myself. 

237 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

freeholder  bearing  the  distinction  under  con- 
sideration. There  was  an  Act  in  Massachu- 
setts, passed  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
permitting  a  householder  paying  "rates"  to 
the  amount  of  ten  shillings,  to  be  admitted 
as  a  freeman.  But  it  was  represented  that 
hardly  three  in  one  hundred  paid  that  amount, 
and  that  a  church  member, "though  he  be  a 
servant  and  pay  not  2d.,  may  be  a  freeman."* 
When,  however,  they  all  got  inside  the 
church,  it  was  not  piety  chiefly  that  was  the 
ranking  principle,  unless  that  had  bestowed 
official  or  semi-official  position. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  of  the  sixty-two 
names  on  the  list  of  original  settlers  in  Bland- 
ford,  only  three  wrote  the  proud  title  of 
"yeoman"  against  their  names  as  the  deeds 
were  passed.  These  three  were  the  trustees 
of  the  church  and  ministerial  lots,  namely, 
Robert  Huston,  Benjamin  Taylor  and  John 
Osborne.  The  matter  is  not  quite  easy  to 
explain.  One  might  suggest  that  it  was  be- 
cause they  were  just  then  wanderers,  not 
substantially  located,  drawing  lots  of  land 
as  new  settlers  in  a  country  where  they  were 

♦■  Economic  and  Social  History,   etc.,  p.  269. 

238 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

expected  to  buy  farms,  and  where,  as  matter 
of  fact,  those  who  remained  did  buy  farms. 
But  in  truth  most  of  those  men  did  not 
attain  to  the  title  of  yeoman  for  long,  long 
years.  In  many  hundreds  of  deeds  covering 
a  period  of  a  full  generation,  less  than  two 
score  men  in  Blandford  were  ever  written  as 
yeomen.  Nor  can  the  fact  be  explained  by 
the  conjecture  that  it  is  mere  coincidence 
or  accident,  for  the  deeds  bear  ample  evidence 
that  great  care  was  used  in  these  respects. 
With  the  exceptions  noted,  among  that  first 
company  of  emigrants  from  Hopkinton  to 
New  Glasgow,  the  men  were  simply  character- 
ized by  their  trades.  Of  course  the  most  of 
them  by  far  were  husbandmen,  meaning  in 
modern  parlance  simply  farmer,  which  latter 
term  also  creeps  into  the  deeds  occasionally. 
The  husbandman  may  or  may  not  have 
owned  his  farm;  but  even  if  he  did,  there  was 
lacking  in  the  mere  occupation  and  ownership 
some  sentimental,  traditional  dignity  and 
force  of  carriage  to  constitute  him  a  yeoman. 
Perhaps  he  needed  to  prove  his  tenure  and 
his  worthiness  by  time.  In  the  original 
instruments  of  conveyance  of  land  to  these 

239 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Glasgow  men,  David  Boies  was  nominated  a 
"Taylor,"  Josiah  Rice  a  "House  Wright," 
Alexander  Osburn  a  "Weaver,"  Robert  Hus- 
ton a  "Tanner,"  William  Carr  a  "Cord- 
wainer,"  etc.  But  the  great  majority  were 
husbandmen.  A  very  few  had,  or  came  to 
have,  the  title  of  "gentleman,"  like  James 
Wark,  who  used  to  be  called  upon  to  draw  up 
the  legal  documents  of  the  new  settlers,  even 
when  they  were  obliged  to  send  back  to 
Hopkinton  for  the  purpose— for  this  gentle- 
man did  not  stay  long  in  the  new  country. 

The  next  title,  or  grade,  above  that  of 
yeoman,  was  that  last  named.  Probably  no 
definition  suited  to  the  democracy  of  historic 
New  England  can  be  nearer  to  the  facts  than 
this  from  the  Century  Dictionary:  "An}"  man 
of  breeding,  education,  occupation  or  income, 
above  menial  service  or  ordinary  trade;  a 
man  of  good  breeding,  courtesy,  etc."  That 
was  exactly  it.  Whether  wealth  and  nothing 
else  would  land  a  man  in  the  sentimental  rank 
of  gentleman  may  be  open  to  question.  Cer- 
tainly a  little  added  social  prominence  or 
acceptability  would,  and  wealth  might  easily 
assist  any  man  of  ordinary  gifts  to  that  end. 

240 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

Education  was  not  absolutely  necessary.  I 
have  seen  the  title  appended  to  the  name  of 
a  man  who,  when  he  made  a  signature,  was 
obliged  to  denote  the  same  by  "his  mark." 
The  man  of  literary  profession  was  a  "clerk," 
or  "dark,"  to  use  the  characteristic  spelling 
and  pronunciation  of  the  Scotch-Irish.  That 
title  was  preferred  to  the  more  general  one  of 
"gentleman,"  while  it  practically  included 
the  latter. 

The  next  designation  in  the  civil  order  of 
ascent  was  that  of  the  squire—  Esquire.  This 
was  an  official  title,  indicating  a  justice  of 
the  peace.  But  in  Blandford  at  least  it  was 
broadened  sufficiently  to  include  one  practic- 
ing the  profession  of  the  law,  whether  a  judge 
or  not. 

After  the  first  generation,  yeoman  became 
the  common  mark  of  the  Blandford  citizen. 
Military  titles  gained  in  actual  war  service  or 
militia  training  adorned  the  addresses  of  many 
citizens.  These  were  scrupulously  observed 
in  common  speech,  as  the  marks  of  rank  or 
grade  in  civil  relations  were  not,  except  the 
title  of  squire.  Just  how  the  balance  was 
struck  as  between  the  various  grades  of  civil 

241 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

and  of  military  rank,  and  what  difficulties 
and  embarrassments  were  consequent  upon 
the  responsibility  to  seat  the  meeting-house 
when  such  seating  included,  as  it  usually  did, 
the  whole  town,  must  be  left  with  the  im- 
agination. There  are  no  records  which  can 
yield  sufficient  evidence.  The  fact  that  the 
task  had  to  be  repeated  at  frequent  intervals 
is  significant  testimon}^  that  it  was  no  easy 
one,  and  that  the  equilibrium  was  very  un- 
stable. "Age,  pay  and  dignity"  were  the 
elements  which  had  to  be  combined  in  the 
judgment,  and  no  trained  and  pains-taking 
chemist  ever  analyzed  a  substance  into  its 
component  parts,  or  went  to  work  to  produce 
delicate  combinations  with  greater  nicety 
and  regard  to  fundam.ental  laws  of  nature 
than  the  New  England  committee  who,  after 
the  pews  were  "dignified,"  went  to  work  to 
place  in  them  their  appropriate  occupants.  The 
writer  so  frequently  quoted  already  in  this 
chapter  remarks,  very  aptly:*  "If  we  had 
the  whole  record  of  the  doings  of  the  con- 
gregations in  classifying  and  seating  their 
members,    it  would   picture  forth  the  social 

*  Weeden,  p.  528. 

242 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

condition  of  New  England  in  our  period. 
Aristophenes'  comedies  would  not  be  more 
entertaining  or  instructive.  Each  man  must 
be  considered,  and  changing  circumstances 
must  be  embodied  in  the  social  privilege  of 
his  seat.  Then  the  women!  Court  chamber- 
lains could  not  have  adjusted  all  their  subtile 
claims  and  conflicting  rivalries.  Committees 
duly  appointed,  from  time  to  time,  worked 
out  these  difficulties  as  best  they  could." 

The  point  to  be  here  particularly  empha- 
sized is  that  to  run  a  tavern  successfully  for  a 
series  of  years  was  a  means  of  certain  pro- 
.motion  in  social  rank.  Especially  was  this 
so  after  the  Revolution.  One  who  studies 
the  deeds  at  the  county  registr}^  is  impressed 
with  the  rise  of  the  innkeepers  to  the  dignity 
of  gentlemen,  almost  as  following  a  proces- 
sion. The  gradation  is  steady  and  it  is 
strictly  observed.  The  candidate  for  wealth 
and  honor  who  stood  as  proprietor  of  a  public 
house  might  have  been  called,  in  the  earlier 
stages  of  his  career,  an  innkeeper,  more  often 
a  yeoman.  He  might  have  been  a  merchant, 
and  so  denominated.  If  he  were  quite  suc- 
cessful, he  was  apt  to  be  written  down  after  a 

243 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

time,  as  "trader,"  a  mark  apparently  a  grade 
above  that  of  "merchant,"  since  his  increas- 
ing profits,  or  his  multiplying  risks  from 
accumulating  charges  on  his  books,  gave  him 
larger  scope  for  buying  and  selling,  or  neces- 
sitated his  taking  mortgages  on  real  estate, 
and  so  entering  the  real  estate  market.  By 
and  by  he  became  a  gentleman.  Once  that, 
even  the  dignity  of  yeoman  faded.  Once 
or  twice  indeed  I  have  seen  a  reversal  from 
the  higher  to  the  lower  rank.  It  was  probably 
a  clerical  error.  At  any  rate,  the  solitary 
instance  or  two  may  count  as  conspicuous 
and  lonely  exceptions.  It  would  be  tiresome 
to  run  through  the  list  of  Blandford  inn- 
keepers who  attained  to  the  title  of  gentle- 
man. But  here  it  is  in  part:  Samuel  Sloper, 
Nathaniel  Pease,  Abner  Pease,  Justus  Ash- 
mun,  Timothy  Hatch,  Solomon  Noble,  War- 
ham  Parks,  Russell  Attwater,  Reuben  Boies, 
Aaron  Baird,  Jedediah  Smith,  Asa  Smith, 
James  Hazzard,  Samuel  Boies,  etc.  Among 
those  wlio  became  squires  were  Samuel 
Sloper,  Justus  Ashmun,  Reuben  Boies,  War- 
ham  Parks,  Rufus  Boies,  Russell  Attwater, 
Orrin  Sage. 

244 


SOCIAL   FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

The  sure  prominence  to  which  the  persis- 
tent and  successful  innkeeper  was  advanced 
is  further  marked  by  the  seat  he  was  given 
in  the  meeting-house.  That  seat  was  not 
bought  nor  hired,  though  it  was  paid  for. 
The  place  was  assigned.  In  the  plan  of  1796 
the  arrangement  was  like  this.  In  the  front 
seat  before  the  pulpit,  with  Mrs.  Rev.  Joseph 
Badger  and  "wido  Morton"  were  William 
Boies  and  Robert  Blair,  both  deacons,  and 
one,  if  not  both,  innkeepers.  Across  the 
broad  aisle,  the  corresponding  front  seat  con- 
tained Samuel  Boies  and  Ephraim  Gibbs, 
also  both  deacons  and  innkeepers.  On  either 
side  the  broad  aisle  next  behind  these  were 
Samuel  Boies  2nd,  Reuben  Boies,  Justus 
Ashmun,  Col.  Sloper;  in  the  next  tier,  Lieut. 
Abner  Pease,  Jedediah  Smith  and  Capt. 
Timothy  Hatch,  all  innkeepers  or  dealers  in 
strong  liquors.     And  so  we  might  go  on. 

Supported  as  it  was  by  men  of  substance 
and  character,  the  tavern  became  the  social 
centre  for  the  people  so  far  as  the  church 
failed,  or  was  not  calculated,  to  realize  for 
them  that  multifarious  function.  There 
seems  not  to  have  been  in  Blandford  at  any 

245 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

time  any  instance  of  that  old-fashioned  New 
England  resort  known  as  the  noon-house. 
There  were  plenty  of  taverns  near  the  meet- 
ing-house, and  the  landlord  was  as  willing 
that  the  people  should  come  as  the  people 
were  willing  to  go.  There  the  sermon  was 
discussed,  and  there  the  great  problems  of 
the  universe  were  pushed  forward  toward 
solution. 

When  the  time  came  for  awakening  upon 
the  subject  of  temperance  reform  the  church 
was  prominent  in  it  all.  It  was  not  afraid 
to  go  right  into  the  broad  aisle  and  rebuke 
the  men  of  substance  and  dignity.  And  this 
it  did.  Rev.  John  Keep  was  a  fearless  and 
effective  pioneer.  Dr.  Eli  Hall,  who  himself 
sold  liquor  for  some  years,  became  his  staunch 
helper.  William  H.  Gibbs,  in  his  Historical 
Address,  mentions  Amos  M.  Collins  as  also 
prominent.  It  was  high  time  for  reform, 
not  alone  in  Blandford,  but  in  all  the  country. 
Too  many  boys  were  being  drawn  into  the 
whirlpool.  Ordinations  have  been  men- 
tioned in  these  pages,  on  occasions  when 
ministers  sat  down  to  drink.  The  fathers 
had    eaten    sour    grapes    and    the    children's 

246 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

teeth  had  been  set  on  edge.  Rev.  Dorus 
Clarke  was  ordained  to  the  ministry  of  the 
old  church  in  Blandford,  Feb.  5,  1823.  Daniel 
Butler,  son  of  the  Beech  hill  man  whose 
coming  was  for  a  time  made  so  unwelcome, 
was  one  of  the  boys  who  were  taking  in  the 
excitement  of  the  incident.  Dr.  Moore,  presi- 
dent of  Williams  college,  preached  the  sermon. 
"It  was  a  very  big  day,"  said  Dr.  Butler,  in  a 
reminiscence  of  it  many  years  later.  For  the 
first  time  this  boy  "saw  the  live  president 
of  a  college,  and  he  wanted  in  some  way  to 
celebrate  the  occasion,  so  he  treated  two 
boys  to  a  mug  of  flip."  It  seemed  the 
proper  thing  to  do.  It  was  the  first  glass. 
This  boy  and  another  presently  saw  the 
new  minister's  fiancee  on  one  of  those  early 
spring  days.  "She  must  be  a  good  young 
lady,  because  she  is  going  to  marry  a 
minister,"  said  one  of  them;  "and  she  must 
be  good  looking,  because  that  is  the  kind 
the  minister  likes."  "Out  of  the  mouth  of 
babes  and  sucklings  thou  hast  perfected 
praise,"  said  One  higher  than  the  high;  and 
so  it  fell  out  that  the  boy  told  the  truth.  He 
it  was  who  had  treated  the  rest  to  flip.     That 

247 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

boy  was  not  passing  through  the  world  with 
his  eyes  shut.  The  minister,  not  long  after 
coming  to  Blandford,  was  taken  seriously 
ill,  and  all  were  anxious.  One  morning  this 
aforesaid  Daniel  and  another  boy  "saw  the 
daughter  of  the  man  with  whom  the  minister 
boarded;  so  they  together  got  up  courage 
enough  to  go  and  ask  her  how  he  was.  She 
stood  and  looked  at  them  as  if  they  were 
two  interesting  specimens  of  natural  history, 
but  never  a  word  did  she  reply.  But  pretty 
soon  a  young  man  'no  better  looking  than 
we  were,'  "  put  in  Dr.  Butler  parenthetically, 
"came  along  and  spoke  to  her  and  she  an- 
swered him  so  that  it  pleased  him."  The 
young  woman  was  Miss  Sage,  daughter  of 
Blandford 's  most  successful  business  man 
and  benefactor  of  Williams  college.  The  boys 
passed  on,  picking  up  more  impressions, 
some  good,  some  bad.  But  that  drink  of 
flip  was  Daniel  Butler's  first  and  his  last. 
Rev.  Dr.  Butler  became  a  shining  light  in  the 
annals  of  Massachusetts  history,  full  of  humor 
withal,  though  to  first  appearance  solemn 
in  the  extreme,  much  in  demand  as  a  captiva- 
ting    after-dinner     speaker,     convulsing    his 

248 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  TAVERN 

hearers  by  his  wit.  Not  uncommonly  he 
would  grace  the  latter  end  of  a  festival  pro- 
gram when  the  hour  was  late,  and  men 
could  be  seen  looking  him  over,  then  quiet- 
ly stealing  out  to  the  door,  when,  if  not 
too  far  beyond  the  sound  of  his  voice,  they 
would  slink  back  again  after  the  speech  had 
begun,  to  join  an  audience  already  moved  to 
hilarity  and  tears  by  his  wit  and  eloquence. 
He  cast  it  all  on  the  side  of  righteousness  and 
of  the  gospel  of  peace,  and  is  not  yet  forgotten. 

Another  of  the  boys  in  those  early  days  was 
Gushing  Eells,  son  of  Joseph  Eells  whose 
home  was  at  the  foot  of  Birch  hill,  who  for 
two  or  three  3^ears  retailed  liquors  among 
the  old  aristocracy  of  the  street.  The  boy 
Gushing  became  a  pupil  in  a  private  school 
of  Mr.  Glarke  in  the  winter  of  1825-6,  entered 
Williams  college,  from  which  he  graduated, 
and  became  co-worker  with  Marcus  Whitman, 
and  the  founder  of  Whitman  college. 

Another  of  the  boys  was  Samuel  Knox, 
lovingly  remembered  by  many  now  living, 
along  with  the  other  two  just  mentioned. 
Also  a  son  of  Williams,  classmate  of  Gushing 
Eells,  he  became  a  learned  judge,  was  inti- 

249 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

mate  with  President  Lincoln  when  the  former 
was  in  Congress  representing  the  State  of 
Missouri,  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War  was  a  power  in  turning  the  hearts  of 
Blandford  youth  to  enlist  for  their  country's 
cause.  He  too  was  a  man  of  faith  and 
godliness. 

Many  another  youth  who  was  turned  in 
these  early  da^^s  of  reform  away  from  the 
baleful  influences  of  the  prevailing  vice  might 
here  be  named.  It  is  because  of  these 
counter  influences  that  to-day  it  is  possible 
for  us  to  pursue  the  study  of  the  tavern  with 
interest  which  is  not  chiefly  painful.  The 
tavern  has  meant  much  to  New  England, 
but  it  could  never  support  itself  without 
the  strong  help  of  the  church,  which  ever 
exercised  something  of  a  visitorial  power 
over  it.  The  tavern  and  the  saloon  were 
never  reformed  from  within,  but  from  without . 

Note: — There  is  a  considerable  list  of 
licensees,  beginning  with  the  very  earliest 
generation,  whom  research  has  not  availed 
to  locate  or  satisfactorily  identify.  They 
are  these: 

250 


SOCIAL  FUNCTIONS   OF  THE  TAVERN 

Matthew  Barber,  1742;  Gad  Stebbins,  1797; 
John  S.  Douglas,  1798;  Eliphalet  Lamb,  1799; 
Aaron  Fish,  1802;  Enos  Alvord,  1817— possi- 
bly in  the  spot  or  neighborhood  where 
Timothy  Hatch  first  operated.*  Besides  the 
above  were  these  licensed  retailers,  in  the 
same  category  of  uncertainty:  Elisha  Buck 
Sheldon,  1783;  Samuel  Hopesby,  1785; 
William  Stewart,  1793  ;t  NoahShepard,  "bb," 
1797;  Henry  Wales,  1800;  I.  W.  Knowlton, 
1802;  Robert  Waterman,  1803-1806,  appar- 
ently somewhere  about  the  northeasterly 
skirts  of  Beech  hill.  The  Blandford  career 
of  these  men,  so  far  as  innkeeping  or  store- 
keeping  was  concerned,  was  short,  and,  it 
may  be  inferred,  unimportant. 

*  V.  Registry,  Vol.  56,  p.  684. 

t  He  lived  in  a  log  house  in  the  northeast  corner  of  town,  in  the  Murray- 
field  district,  but  sold  that  in  1784.  V.  Registry.  Vol.  24,  p.  621. 


251 


Chapter  Nine 

Turnpike  Stories 


THE  turnpike  of  1829,  known  as  the 
Hampden  and  Berkshire  turnpike, 
marked  an  era  in  the  social  history  of 
Blandford.  The  road  enters  the  town  from 
the  east  through  the  lower  and  easier  way  be- 
tween Tarrot  and  Birch  hills,  instead  of  over 
the  top  of  the  latter,  which  was  the  way  of 
the  fathers.  Hugging  the  streams,  particu- 
larly following  up  the  banks  and  meadows 
sought  out  by  Potash  brook  on  its  way  to 
the  Westfield  river,  it  both  shortens  the 
distance  and  lessens  the  elevation  to  be 
climbed.  In  essentials  it  is  the  present  road 
from  the  Dayton- Rowley  neighborhood  of 
yore  up  through  the  village,  through  North 
Blandford  and  on  past  the  western  boundary 
of  the  town  to  Lee.  In  part  it  is  identical 
with  the  old  post  route,  or  Berkshire  road; 
so  far,  that  is,  as  it  immediately  approaches 
and  passes  through  the  central  village.  But 
from   the    Centre    westward,    it    cut    a   new 


TURNPIKE  STORIES 

course,  crossing  the  old  Gore  lane  about  a 
mile  below  the  village,  proceeding  through 
the  "intervale"  at  the  Gore,  continuing  thence 
directly  to  North  Blandford,  whence  it  pushed 
on  westerly  to  Lee.  It  was  the  first  direct 
connection  which  the  two  villages  had  ever 
had.  But  North  Blandford  was  then  in  its 
youth. 

In  his  Historical  Address*  William  H. 
Gibbs  remarked  that  this  road  was  laid  out 
"through  the  poorest  part  of  the  town. 
Strangers  passing  over  this  road,"  he  adds, 
"form  an  unfavorable  opinion  of  our  soil  and 
enterprise.  Soon  after  the  completion  of  the 
road,  an  honest  Shaker  came  along  and 
called  upon  a  blacksmith,  and  remarked  that 
he  supposed  it  was  necessary  to  sharpen  the 
noses  of  sheep  to  enable  them  to  pick  grass 
from  among  the  rocks  and  stones.  Stages 
ran  (where  it  was  level)  upon  this  road,  and 
carried  the  mail  until  the  Western  Railroad 
went  into  operation."  There  are  some  ex- 
cessively stony  pastures  and  forest-covered 
drumlins  along  the  way.  But  in  sooth  the 
road  is  not  so  bad  as  the  lecturer  just  quoted 

*  p.  47. 

253 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

made  it  out  to  be.  The  hills  are  not  so  steep 
as  in  some  other  parts  of  town,  the  intervales 
are  lovely,  there  are  some  superb  mowing 
uplands  in  the  Gore,  and  the  outlook  into 
the  beautiful  vale  of  North  Blandford,  as 
one  rounds  the  hillside  east  of  the  village, 
is  not  easily  forgotten,  while  the  combination  of 
brook,  meadow,  hill,  and  forest,  as  one  pushes 
on  westerly  through  "Number  Three,"  be- 
stows on  the  sensitive  beholder  some- 
thing of  the  feeling  of  enchantment. 

This  turnpike  shortly  revolutionized  the 
traffic  of  the  country  hereabout.  Two  of 
the  four  daily  stages  which  had  run  for  years 
by  the  Boston  and  Albany  road,  up  and  down 
through  the  old  town  street,  were  transferred 
to  this  turnpike,  while  an  immense  and  in- 
cessant traffic  of  business  and  pleasure  de- 
veloped and  continued  until,  gradually,  the 
railroad  brought  quiet  and  solitude  again. 
What  commotion  this  new  line  of  travel 
stirred  within  the  town  itself  by  way  of 
re-adjustment  to  new  conditions  is  dimly 
echoed  in  the  county  records.  A  network 
of  crooked  roads  had  pervaded  the  Gore; 
now  there  was  a  thoroughfare.     The  old  post 

254 


TURNPIKE  STORIES 

route  itself  was  in  large  part  side-tracked 
by  the  new  turnpike.  The  selectmen  of  the 
town  petitioned  the  court,  in  this  year  1829, 
to  discontinue  some  of  these  roads,  or  sec- 
tions thereof,  a  thing  which  was  shortly 
accomplished.  The  committee  in  charge 
were  ordered  to  meet  at  the  house  of  Luther 
Lafiin  at  eight  o'clock  on  the  ninth  of  Sep- 
tember, and  notice,  to  meet  the  legal  re- 
quirements,  was  given  in  the  Springfield  Re- 
publican. 

There  was  one  toll-gate  on  this  'pike  within 
the  limits  of  the  town,  about  a  mile  below 
the  village.  Later,  there  was  another,  suc- 
ceeding the  first  one,  a  little  lower  down. 
That  house  is  still  standing,  familiarly  known 
as  the  gate -house,  at  the  junction  of  the  old 
mountain  road  and  the  newer  one  under 
review. 

Thereon  hangs  a  tale  of  local  turmoil  and 
ferment,  altogether  illustrative  of  the  time 
and  of  the  spirit  of  New  England  democracy. 
By  what  right,  of  nature  or  of  heaven's  law, 
was  a  citizen  freeman  of  old  New  England 
to  be  stopped  in  the  midst  of  the  highway 
and  demanded  to  pay  toll  for  his  passage? 

255 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Answer:  The  road  is  in  the  hands  of  an 
incorporated  company  who  keep  it  in  repair; 
the  citizens  are  no  longer  taxed  to  maintain 
it,  and  by  statute  the  company  are  author- 
ized to  make  themselves  good  by  certain 
specified  tolls.  "Very  well,  then,"  said  one 
of  Blandford's  proud  and  judicial  citizens, 
"they  must  make  that  road  down  the  moun- 
tain so  smooth  that  I  may  take  a  glass 
tumbler  and  roll  it  down  from  top  to  bottom 
of  the  hill  without  breaking  the  glass!"  A 
little  knot  of  objecting  wits  got  together  to 
talk  turnpike  and  the  toll.  "As  for  the 
turnpike,"  said  they,  "we  will  make  a  shun- 
pike;  we'll  tap  the  'pike  on  one  side  of  the 
gate,  pass  'round  and  connect  on  the  other; 
then  where  will  their  tolls  be?"  The  shun- 
pike  talk  was  the  go  for  a  time,  and  the  scheme 
was  actually  carried  into  effect.  But  the 
General  Court  stepped  in  and  levied  fines  on 
all  shun-pikers  far  more  tyrannous  than  toll- 
gate  demands.  At  least  one  such  shun-pike 
in  Blandford  was  blockaded  by  force  and 
judicial  authority.  So  it  went.  A  woman, 
when  the  usual  toll  was  demanded  of  her, 
drove  the  keeper  into  the  house  with  a  horse 
whip,  and  a  law  suit  resulted. 

256 


1      Gate  House,  Turnpike  of  1829 
Tavern  at  North  Blandford,  Built  by  Norton  and  Ely 


TURNPIKE  STORIES 

Rhode  Islanders  objected  to  the  toll-gates 
on  this  fashion,  to  quote  a  paragraph  from 
President  Dwighfs  Travels,^  "that  turnpikes 
and  the  establishment  of  religious  worship 
had  their  origin  in  Great  Britain :  the  govern- 
ment of  which  was  a  monarchy,  and  the 
inhabitants  slaves;  that  the  people  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut  were  obliged  by 
law  to  support  ministers,  and  pay  the  fare  of 
turnpikes,  and  were  therefore  slaves  also; 
that  if  they  chose  to  be  slaves,  they  un- 
doubtedly had  a  right  to  their  choice;  but 
that  free  born  Rhode  Islanders  ought  never 
submit  to  be  priest-ridden,  nor  to  pay  for 
the  privilege  of  travelling  on  the  highway. 
This  demonstrative  reasoning  prevailed."  In 
1805,  however,  even  "free-born  Rhode  Islanders 
bowed  their  necks  to  the  slavery  of  travelling 
on  a  good  road."  Massachusetts  people 
yielded  more  easily  than  this  to  the  spirit  of 
progress,  and  turnpikes  in  Western  Massa- 
chusetts became  both  numerous  and  popular. 

Toll-gates  were  placed  at  intervals  of  ten 
miles,  and  located  under  the  authority  of  the 
highway  commissioners.     The  tolls  were  grad- 

*  Vol.  11,  pp.  37-38. 

257 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

uated  along  a  somewhat  complicated  scale, 
ranging  from  twenty-five  cents  for  the  passing 
of  "each  coach,  chariot,  phaeton,  or  other 
four-wheeled  spring  carriage,  drawn  by  two 
horses,"  to  "all  sheep  or  swine,  at  the  rate  of 
three  cents  by  the  dozen."  The  regulations 
were  embodied  in  the  statutes  in  the  years 
1804,  1814  and  1817,  and  they  reflect  per- 
fectly the  travelling  conditions  of  the  day 
for  Blandford  turnpikes  as  well  as  for  those 
of  other  towns.  The  highest  rate  would 
very  seldom  be  charged  because  only  the 
very  wealthy  had  vehicles  that  would  occa- 
sion such  toll.  Wagons  were  a  luxury  and 
were  licensed  by  the  state.  A  precious  docu- 
ment is  now  in  the  possession  of  John  Noble's 
descendants  which  reads  thus:*  "This  is 
to  certify  that  John  Nohle  of  the  town  of 
Blandford  in  the  County  of  Hampden  in  the 
seventeenth  district  of  Massachusetts,  has 
paid  the  duty  of  one  dollar  for  the  year  to 
end  on  the  thirty-first  of  December  next  for 
and  upon  a  four  wheel  carriage  called  a 
waggon  and  the  harness  used  therefor  owned 
by  him.     This  certificate  to  be  of  no  avail  any 

*  Italics  represent  written  words  in  printed  blank. 

258 


TURNPIKE  STORIES 

longer  than  the  aforesaid  carriage  shall  be 
owned  by  the  said  Noble  unless  the  said 
certificate  shall  be  produced  to  a  collector, 
and  an  entry  to  be  made  thereon,  specifying 
the  name  of  the  then  owner  of  said  carriage, 
and  the  time  when  he  became  possessed 
thereof.  Given  in  conformity  with  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  this  eleventh  day  of 
JafP'   one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixteen, 

Thomas  Shepard, 

Collector  for  the  17th  district  of 
Massachusetts." 
Tradition  adds  that  so  great  was  the  com- 
motion over  John  Noble's  possession  and  two 
other  wagons  driven  into  town  at  the  same 
time  from  the  South  street  district,  that 
action  was  taken  in  town  meeting  concerning 
the  dangerous  innovation.  The  town  records, 
however,  yield  no  such  interesting  material. 
The  traditional  seat  of  this  wagon  of  John 
Noble's  is  a  well  preserved  relic  in  possession 
of  descendants  to-day.  There  were  several 
"first"  wagons  in  town,  of  which  this  was 
one.  An  occasional  wagon  proudly  occupied 
the  highways  long  before  this  time.  In  1794 
Solomon  Noble  hired  a  horse  and  wagon  of 

259 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Jedediah  Smith  to  go  to  Williamstown. 
Chaises  were  in  use,  but,  so  far  as  the  hill 
country  was  concerned,  no  doubt  they  were 
confined  to  the  more  wealthy  or  privileged. 
When  Rev.  Dorus  Clarke  brought  home  with 
him  from  Longmeadow  his  bride,  in  May  of 
1824,  they  came  in  a  new  chaise.  They 
were  accompanied  as  far  as  Westfield  by  a 
long  line  of  chaises,  and  were  met  by  a  de- 
tachment from  Blandford,  also  in  chaises. 
The  minister  "had  a  horse  which  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  drive  in  a  sulky,"  to  quote 
from  the  story  of  Mrs.  Clarke  to  her  grand- 
children many  years  after,  "but  when  he  got 
this  new  chaise,  which  was  very  heavy — 
a  very  nice  chaise — there  being  two  of  us, 
too,  the  horse  was  disinclined  to  do  his  duty. 
He  used  to  stop  and  rear  on  those  steep  roads. 
Our  lives  were  wonderfully  preserved.  I 
often  think  of  it."  But  Rev.  John  Keep,  at 
least  in  the  earlier  years  of  his  ministry, 
which  began  in  1805,  rode  a  horse,  and  his 
wife  rode  behind  him  on  a  pillion — this  on 
his  own  written  testimony.  There  was  a 
local  proverb,  he  said,  to  the  effect  that  a 
wagon  would  not  stand  anywhere  in  town 
unless  it  was  blocked. 

260 


TURNPIKE  STORIES 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  people 
of  Blandford  were  behind  the  age.  Wagons 
drawn  by  horses  began  to  come  into  general 
use  only  after  the  nineteenth  century  had 
dawned.  Country  carts  and  wagons  were 
generally  drawn  by  oxen,  from  two  to  six 
in  number  according  to  the  load  to  be  drawn 
or  the  distance  to  be  covered.  The  tradi- 
tional objection  to  the  use  of  horse  wagons — 
and  the  tradition  is  persistent,  attaching 
generally  to  all  the  "first"  wagons  of  the 
sort — was  on  account  of  the  actual  or  pre- 
sumed fright  of  horses  at  so  unusual  a  sight. 

The  period  of  early  turnpikes  and  toll-gates 
was  that  also  of  the  great  westward  emi- 
gration. As  railroads  were  yet  to  be,  of 
course  the  ordinary  highways  of  the  towns 
received  an  enormous  amount  of  traffic  and 
travel.  To  get  before  us  the  picture  of  all 
this,  no  document  or  tradition  could  be  more 
explicit,  scarcely  more  vivid,  than  the  law 
covering  the  imposition  of  toll.  This,  in 
addition  to  what  has  already  been  quoted, 
was,  in  part,  as  follows:  "For  every  cart  or 
wagon  drawn  by  two  horses,  ten  cents,  and  if 
drawn  by  more  than  two  horses,  two  cents 

261 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

for  each  additional  horse;  for  every  cart  or 
wagon  drawn  by  two  oxen,  ten  cents,  and  if 
by  more  than  two  oxen,  twelve  and  a  half 
cents;  for  every  cart  or  wagon  drawn  by 
more  than  four  oxen  or  horses,  two  cents 
for  each  additional  ox  or  horse;  for  every 
curricle,  fifteen  cents;  for  every  chaise,  chair, 
sulky  or  other  two  wheeled  carriage  for 
pleasure,  drawn  by  one  horse,  six  cents  and 
one  quarter  of  a  cent;  for  each  wagon  or 
carriage,  with  four  wheels,  drawn  by  one 
horse  only,  according  to  the  following  rates 
of  toll;  that  is  to  say,  for  every  such  carriage, 
the  body  or  seats  of  which  shall  be  placed  on 
springs,  and  covered  with  cloth,  canvas  or 
leather,  and  used  for  the  conveyance  of 
persons  and  personal  baggage  only,  twelve  and 
a  half  cents;  for  every  such  carriage  without 
springs,  six  cents;  and  for  all  other  carriages 
of  four  wheels  drawn  by  one  horse,  for  the 
conveyance  of  persons  and  personal  baggage, 
that  rate  of  toll  which  is,  or  shall  be,  the 
nearest  to  the  mean  sum,  in  cents,  between 
the  two  rates  of  toll  above  specified,  as  the 
same  are  or  shall  be  established  at  each  of 
such  gates  respectively;  for  every  man  and 

262 


TURNPIKE  STORIES 

horse,  four  cents;  for  every  sleigh  or  sled 
drawn  by  two  oxen  or  horses,  one  cent  for 
each  additional  ox  or  horse;  for  every  sleigh 
or  sled  drawn  by  one  horse,  four  cents;  for 
all  horses,  mules  or  neat  cattle  led  or  driven, 
besides  those  in  teams,  one  cent  each."  To 
discourage  small  tires  which  tended  to  cut 
the  road  and  keep  it  rough  and  soft,  regular 
tolls  were  halved  for  every  vehicle  having 
tires  six  or  more  inches  w^de. 

More  than  one  aged  Blandford  resident 
has  told  me  vivid  stories  of  the  life  and 
traffic  of  the  turnpikes.  As  compared  with 
the  modern  country  road,  the  turnpikes  were 
rough  and  miry,  "all  chomped  up,"  as  one 
of  them  said  who  lived  on  this  very  turnpike. 
"You  couldn't  look  out  of  the  window, 
hardly,"  said  she,  "but  you  would  see  a  team." 
Team  after  team  of  lime,  drawn  by  four 
horses  each,  passed  along  from  the  Berkshire 
limekilns.  Great  droves  of  cattle,  sheep  and 
hogs  were  driven  to  the  Brighton  market 
Stages,  here  as  everywhere  throughout  the 
country,  were  often  getting  stalled  in  the 
mire,  when  passengers  had  to  evacuate,  and 
the   men,   with  the  aid  of  neighbors,   would 

263 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

help  the  tired  and  over-burdened  horses  lift 
the  vehicle  up  and  on  to  more  solid  ground. 

For  liveh^  local  traditions  of  turnpike 
travel  in  Blandford  I  am  obliged  to  levy 
upon  a  period  just  following  that  of  my  story, 
namely,  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
In  most  essential  respects,  probably,  it  is 
but  the  prolongation  of  that  over  which  the 
curtain  of  forgetfulness  has  been  drawn  for- 
ever. It  is  said  that  the  Miner  house  in  the 
village  of  North  Blandford  was  at  one  time 
a  tavern  run  by  one  Harrington.*  Drivers 
of  swine  used  to  stop  at  his  house,  and  the 
herds  would  be  cared  for  in  the  barn.  Har- 
rington, so  the  story  goes,  had  a  trap  door 
in  the  floor  of  this  barn.  This  he  would  open 
suddenly,  when  occasion  seemed  to  him  to 
favor  his  too  ardent  avarice,  and  a  good  fat 
hog  would  be  unaccountably  missing.  But 
he  did  it  one  time  too  many,  like  most  of- 
fenders. 

The  tavern  which  held  the  prestige  of  the 
neighborhood  was  that  still  standing  on  the 
four   corners,    built   by   Messrs.    Norton   and 

*  This  much  is  certain,  namely,  that  there  was  a  Herrinton  in  the  north 
village,  but  whether  identical  with  the  landlord  of  the  tradition 
1  know  not. 

264 


Long    Hill,  Turnpike  of  1829 


TURNPIKE  STORIES 

Ely.*  Of  the  doings  at  this  house  I  am  so 
fortunate  as  to  have  the  reminiscences,  de- 
livered to  me  at  first  hand,  of  an  aged  personal 
friend,  who,  only  a  dozen  years  or  so  after 
its  first  occupancy,  became  the  efficient 
proprietress  of  the  institution.  These  I 
transcribe  as  closely  as  may  be,  in  her  own 
picturesque  language. f 

"How  different  everything  is  in  1902  from 
what  it  was  in  1830,  '40  and  '50!  In  those 
days  everyone  had  his  own  conveyance. 
Every  kind  of  peddler  and  of  peddler's  wagon 
was  going  through  the  country.  They  sold 
whips,  brooms,  cigars,  confectionery,  etc. 
They  always  put  up  at  some  hotel  at  night. 
In  those  days  hotels  were  only  about  eight 
or  ten  miles  apart  in  the  country.  These 
peddlers  would  want  a  good  supper,  following 
which  they  would  go  into  the  bar-room  and 
tell  jolly  stories.  They  were  up  betimes  in 
the  morning  and  on  their  way. 

"The  hotel  in  this  village  was  situated  on 
the  turnpike  connecting  Springfield  and  Al- 
bany.    Over  this  turnpike  four-horse  stages 

*  Now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Lee  W.  Higgins. 

t  Copied  from  The  Blandford  Monthly,  August,  1902. 

265 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

ran  every  day  carrying  the  mail  and  passen- 
gers. People  from  the  towns  below,  going 
to  Lee,  Pittsfield,  Lenox  and  Albany,  some 
with  very  handsome  turnouts,  used  to  stop 
here  for  dinner  or  for  the  night. 

"Blandford  was  quite  noted  for  parties 
and  weddings.  There  was  always  a  ball 
on  the  Fourth  of  July,  New  Year's  and 
Washington's  Birthday,  dancing  commenc- 
ing at  one  o'clock  and  continuing  until  morn- 
ing. This  was  after  a  supper  of  roast  turkey 
and  roast  pig,  the  latter  standing  on  his  four 
feet  and  an  orange  in  his  mouth.  Other 
things  in  the  bill  of  fare  were  of  a  sort  to 
rank  with  those  mentioned.  Some  of  the 
ladies  and  gentlemen  went  on  horseback  to 
attend  the  dances.  To  light  the  ball-room 
home-made  tallow  dips  were  set  in  tin  re- 
flectors. The  old  people  used  to  have  a 
turkey  dinner  once  a  year  at  the  hotel.  They 
stayed  into  the  evening,  sang,  played  games 
and  ran  around  the  chimney  playing  'Catch 
me  if  you  can,'  having  the  very  best  time 
that  ever  was.  Weddings  were  no  uncommon 
thing.  One  man,  after  he  was  married, 
stepped  up  to  the  minister  and   said,    'How 

266 


TURNPIKE  STORIES 

much  shall  I  pay  you,  Sir?'  The  minister 
replied,  'Whatever  you  please."  'There  is  a 
two  dollar  bill,'  said  the  groom  in  proud  dis- 
play of  his  munificence;  and  the  married 
pair  went  on  their  way  rejoicing.  A  great 
many  parties  used  to  come  from  the  Armory 
Hill  in  Springfield.  They  would  stop  for 
a  week  at  the  hotel  and  go  fishing. 

'  'This  old  hostelry  used  to  contain  a  picture 
gallery  and  different  kinds  of  shows.  One 
very  nice  set  of  people  that  used  to  stop  at  the 
hotel  were  the  Lebanon  and  Hancock  Shakers. 
They  went  to  Enfield,  Connecticut,  every 
fall  to  visit  a  family  there.  They  always 
rode  in  a  long  wagon,  four  women  and  two 
men.  When  these  people  eat,  the  men  sit 
on  one  side  of  the  table,  the  women  on  the 
other.  When  they  come  to  the  table,  each 
drops  on  his  knees  by  his  chair,  then  each 
helps  himself  at  the  table.  They  never 
marry,  and  they  do  not  eat  together  at  home. 
When  they  are  ready  to  go,  one  man  holds 
the  horses  by  the  head,  the  other  man  holds 
the  door  open  for  the  women  to  get  into  the 
wagon,  with  his  face  turned  the  other  way. 
The  women  are  very  nice  to  visit  with  and 

267 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

ver}^  nice  in  their  dress.  They  ahvays  carry 
beautiful  fruit  with  them  to  eat  on  the  road, 
and  which  they  take  from  their  own  home. 

"One  family  from  New  Orleans  liked  the 
place  so  well  that  they  came  to  North  Bland- 
ford  to  board  year  after  year.  They  brought 
with  them  cages  of  beautiful  birds — the 
parrot,  the  mocking  bird,  the  bird  of  paradise 
and  other  birds. 

"There  was  a  tailor's  shop  full  of  girls  who 
boarded  at  the  hotel." 


268 


Chapter  Ten 

The  East  Part  and  Westfield 
River  Branches 


THE  northeast  corner  of  the  township, 
embracing  a  half-dozen  lots  of  five 
hundred  acres  each — about  five  square 
miles — is  very  nearly  cut  off  into  a  right- 
angled  triangle  by  the  easterly  boundary  of 
the  second  division  home  lots,  this  line 
forming  the  hypothenuse  of  the  triangle. 
The  extreme  northerly  part  of  this  section 
has  for  a  half  century  or  so  belonged  to  the 
town  of  Huntington,  and  constitutes  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  business  section  of  that 
town.  It  lies  on  the  banks  of  the  Westfield 
river  where  the  two  branches  thereof,  the 
east  and  west,  unite.  This  locality  was  early 
known  as  the  "Westfield  River  Branches." 
A  mile  and  a  half  to  the  south  of  the  river  is 
Black's  brook,  whose  waters  begin  their 
course  entirely  within  the  triangle  under 
review.  On  all  these  streams  early  and 
thriving    settlements    were    made.     Between 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

them  and  the  heart  of  Blandford  street  was 
also  the  centre  of  Hfe  of  the  old  second 
division,  whose  street  ran  a  career  of  ridiculous 
independence  of  nature  for  many  decades, 
then  finally  succumbed  to  the  hopelessness  of 
the  task.  In  the  midst  of  this  second 
division  was  Cochran  pond,  sometimes  called 
Second  division  pond,  an  insignificant  pool, 
at  the  lower  end  of  which  was  a  mill.  The 
story  of  it  belongs  elsewhere,  and  may  not 
now  detain  us  except  to  take  notice  of  the 
fact  that  a  nerve  ganglion  of  social  life  was 
there  and  across -roads. 

I  have  not  been  able  certainly  to  discover 
that  the  second  division  street  ever  had  a 
tavern,  which  is  far  from  saying  that  it  never 
did  have  one;  and  the  same  statements  may 
apply  to  the  existence  of  a  store  there,  for 
the  old  street  was  not  unimportant  or  lifeless. 
It  was  well  populated,  and  its  existence 
bulked  large  in  the  thought  and  life  of  the 
town.  In  1750  it  was  ordered  that  "ther 
be  a  road  of  two  Rood  wide  to  rune  Betwen 
Y  second  Devision  Loots  and  y^  East  end 
of  y^  first  Devision  Loots  all  along  acros  y^ 
first  Devision  Loots,"  but  I  find  no  record 

270 


WESTFIELD  RIVER  BRANCHES 

of  that  order  ever  having  been  carried  out, 
except  north  of  the  Northampton  road,  where 
such  a  highway  still  exists.  For  several 
generations  following  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  Blairs— Matthew, 
Robert,  Isaac,  Jacob  and  others, — ran  a 
saw  mill  down  on  Freeland  brook  in  the 
eighth  home  lot,  east  side.  Besides  other 
Blair  licensees  already  mentioned,  Isaac  was 
in  the  business  as  retailer  for  three  years 
beginning  1783.  Possibly  there  was  a  store 
in  this  vicinity.* 

As  has  been  already  stated,  a  centre  of 
interest  was  close  above  Cochran  pond,  where 
the  old  Cochran  house  stands  with  broken 
back  ready  to  tumble  down  into  the  cellar, 
the  great  chimney  still  doing  its  best  to  hold 
it  up,  while  the  little  white  school-house 
across  the  way  is  threatened  with  submer- 
gence by  the  fast  growing  saplings  about  it. 

This  second  division  centre  had  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  village  on  the  other  street. 
Two  or  three  ways  were  tried,  crossing  or 
bordering  on  Israel  Gibbs's  two  lots,  numbers 
34  and  35,  in  each  instance  a  short  distance 

*  The  mill  was  not  far  from  the  bridge  on  the  second  division  road  below 
the  second  division  school-house. 

271 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

to  the  south  of  the  present  road  to  Hunting- 
ton. Bridle  paths  must  have  existed  from 
the  earhest  times,  connecting  the  various' 
settlements,  but  I  find  no  record  of  a  regular 
road  which  would  accommodate  the  com- 
munity at  Westfield  river  branches  until  1765. 
There  were  two  early  road  surve3^s  in  this 
part,  but  it  is  almost  impossible  now  to  trace 
them  out.  All  the  roads  passed  the  Cochran 
house  and  pond,  or  ran  very  near,  and  the 
earliest  road,  or  roads,  intersected  the  farm 
lot  numbered  37.  Here  Jonas  Henry  ran  a 
tavern  for  three  years  or  more  beginning  in 
1782.  He  had  a  farm  overlooking  the  valley, 
where,  let  us  hope,  he  and  his  guests  fed  their 
souls  not  altogether  on  the  material  things 
of  the  landlord's  table  and  flowing  bowl, 
but  as  well  on  the  superb  panorama  of  forest 
and  stream,  and  hill  and  dale,  which  there 
the  Creator  has  invited  the  eyes  which  see 
and  the  soul  that  comprehends,  to  behold 
and  quaff  the  inspiration  of.  In  the  layout 
of  a  county  road  from  Lenox  to  Becket,  the 
committee  for  which, by  the  way,  were  Justus 
Ashmun,  Samuel  Sloper,  Timothy  Blair,  sur- 
veyor, William  Shepard  and  David  Mack — 

272 


-  o 
>■  o 
a  -1 


WESTFIELD  RIVER  BRANCHES 

three  at  least,  Blandford  men,  and  two  of  them 
taverners — allusion  is  made  to  "the  high 
Way  leading  from  Westfield  to  Partridgefield 
between  Jonas  Henry  House  and  Bridge," 
which  might  indicate  that  Henry  was  not 
very  high  up  on  the  hill. 

At  the  foot  of  this  hill,  a  little  below  the 
settlement,  where  the  railroad  crosses  the 
north,  or  east,  branch  of  the  river,  the  two 
branches  unite.  The  highway  runs  along 
the  opposite,  or  south,  side  of  the  river.  It 
is  a  most  charming  valley,  the  hills  rising 
on  either  side  in  ever  graceful  convolutions, 
covered  with  verdure  except  where  now  and 
then  a  bare  crag  jutting  out  affords  a  pleasing 
contrast  to  the  curvature  of  stream  and 
mountain.  On  the  two  river  branches  above 
their  junction  are  clustered  the  shops  and 
homes  of  the  village,  upon  which  the  pointed 
spires  of  two  or  three  churches  look  peace- 
fully down.  There  was  in  the  olden  time 
a  road  running  along  the  river  bank,  and  one 
crossing  it,  as  now,  these  roads  proceeding 
on  the  one  hand  to  the  towns  to  the  north, 
Norwich  bridge  being  especially   prominent. 


273 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

and   another   leading  southward   up  the   hill 
to  Blandford  town. 

The  settlement  at  Westfield  river  branches 
was  by  nature  designed  to  be  one  by  itself. 
Its  jurisdiction  unfortunately  fell  within  the 
boundaries  of  several  towns.  In  the  'sixties 
there  was  a  tavern  down  there  operated  by 
one  Mixer.  That  was  some  distance  up  the 
east  branch  of  the  river,  in  the  town  of 
Miirrayfield,  now  Huntington.  The  burial 
ground  used  by  this  settlement  lies  near  the 
river  on  this  east  branch,  and  contains  many 
graves  of  Blandford  people,  some  marked, 
but  many  more  undesignated  except  by 
unhewn  stones.  John  Bolton  lived  on  the 
hither  side  of  the  Blandford  town  line,  in  the 
northeast  corner  farm  lot,  numbered  38, 
owning  twenty-seven  acres  between  the  two 
branches  of  the  river.  The  lot  embraced, 
as  I  suppose,  the  present  railroad  station  and 
a  not  inconsiderable  section  of  the  village. 
In  1770  a  county  road  was  laid  from  North- 
ampton to  Blandford  passing  through  Murray- 
field.  It  mentions  Bolton's  "old  house"  on 
the  hill  just  above  the  "steep  pitch,"  and 
"John   Bolton  begs   Leave   of  y*  honorable 

274 


WESTFIELD  RIVER  BRANCHES 

Court,"  the  document  continues,  "to  make 
Gates  and  Bars  or  he  Cant  fence  his  field 
because  the  flood  carries  away  his  fence." 
Bolton  identified  himself  with  the  interests  of 
Murrayfield. 

In  the  early  nineteenth  century  there  was  a 
store  at  the  cross-roads  at  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
kept  by  one  Falley.  The  place  was  long 
known  as  Falley's  X  (cross)  roads. 

The  propensity  which  some  of  the  men  who 
lived  in  this  valley  had  for  "taking  their 
recreation  in  the  river  by  swimming"  on 
the  Lord's  day,  has  already  been  related. 
They  had  succeeded  in  getting  themselves 
very  much  before  public  attention  forty  years 
before,  in  the  very  earliest  period  of  settle- 
ment life  down  there.  How  many  there  were 
is  not  of  record,  nor  why  they  were  any  more 
reluctant  than  the  rest  of  the  town  to  pay 
their  "Provance  tax."  Tax-paying  was  not 
too  eagerly  indulged  in  by  anyone.  For 
some  reason  unrecorded  and  unknown  the 
men  of  this  neighborhood  in  1762  refused  to 
pay,  or  were  slow  in  paying,  the  Province 
tax.  Record  of  a  town  meeting  held  June 
16,    1762,  notes  that    "Insign  W"  Knox    & 

275 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

John  Boies"  were  chosen  a  committee  "to 
go  to  y'  men  at  Westfield  River  Branches  to 
see  what  Demands  they"  had  "one  the 
Town."  WilUam  Boies  was  appointed  at 
the  same  time  to  seek  legal  advice  in  case  the 
committee  of  two  desired  it.  Meantime  the 
delinquents  had  been  arrested  and  clapped 
into  jail  in  Springfield,  at  the  hands  of  Samuel 
Willson,  constable.  Presumably  this  was  by 
higher  authority  than  that  of  the  town,  which 
convened  again  June  28,  and  "voated  the 
money  Part  of  the  Provance  tax  assessed" 
upon  the  imprisoned  men  "be  Borrowed  to 
Pay  y^  remainder"  of  the  town's  obligation. 
It  was  further  "voated  that  In'  Will"*  Boies 
be  a  Comeety  to  go  to  the  men  Living  at 
Westfield  River  Branches  that  ware  taken 
Prisoners  by  Samuel  Willson  Constable  to 
Springfield  for  provance  tax  and  to  agree 
with  them  if  they  think  proper  or  Carrey  or 
Defend  if  prosecuted  at  the  towns  Coast." 
The  amount  of  the  aforesaid  tax  as  borrowed 
is  then  given  in  twenty-five  items,  mostly 
of  six  shillings  each,  the  largest  sum  being 
eight  shillings.  At  a  third  meeting  held 
August  24,  eighteen  shillings  and  five  pence 

276 


WESTFIELD  RIVER  BRANCHES 

was  granted  to  Samuel  Boies  "for  atending 
Court  &  seeing  a  Lawewar,"  and  to  William 
Boies  ten  shillings  and  fourteen  pence  for 
going  to  Northampton  to  secure  counsel. 
The  town  appear  to  have  lost  their  case,  and 
gave  a  note  upon  interest  for  "one  Pound 
Nine  Shillings  &  four  pence"  borrowed  of 
Samuel  Boies  to  defray  the  charges  in  the 
affair.     The  itemized  account  is  as  follows: 

"Pay^  by  In'  Will*"  Knox  to  the  men  at 
Westfield  River  Branches  for  being  taken 
Prisoners  by  Blandford  Constable  for  province 
tax  in  behalf  of  the  Town  one  Pound  four 
Shillings  &  Eight  pence 

"Pay^  by  John  Knox  in  behalf  of  the  Town 
one  shilling  six  pence 

"Pay^  by  John  Boies  in  behalf  of  The  Town 
two  Shilling — 

"Pay''  by  James  Willson  in  behalf  of  The 
Town  twelve  Shillings 

"Pay^  by  In'  Will*"  Knox  Seven  Shillings  in 
behalf  of  the  Town 

the  above  S"^  Sums  pay^  to  Defray  the 
Charges  for  taking  the  men  Prisoners  for 
provance  tax  that  Live  at  Westfield  River 
Branches." 

277 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

If  one  may  trust  all  that  has  been  written 
of  New  England  innkeepers  they  w^re  tra- 
ditionally prone  to  occupy  the  office  of  con- 
stable. Blandford  innkeepers  fought  shy  of 
the  position,  apparently  because  they  did 
not  incline  to  the  delicate  jobs  which  fell  to 
such  a  functionary.  But  in  this  racket  over 
the  province  tax,  whatever  it  was,  men  who 
either  were,  or  were  to  be,  dispensers  of 
public  entertainment,  were  prominently  active 
in  defence  of  their  fellow  citizens  down  on 
the  banks  of  the  river.  Meantime,  without 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  all  the  taverns  in 
town  were  furnished  with  abundant  topics 
of  discussion  the  whole  summer  long. 

The  task  of  climbing  the  mountain  from 
the  Westfield  river  valley  to  Blandford  hilltop 
has  ever  appealed  to  those  who  have  had  it 
to  do  as  the  ascending  of  the  hill  Difficulty. 
Even  to  this  day,  after  the  Commonwealth 
has  spent  several  thousand  dollars  grading 
the  highway  from  Russell  to  Blandford, 
people  open  their  eyes  in  wonder  that  the 
automobile  club  should  choose  this  eyrie  in 
their  overland  runs  between  Springfield  and 
Lenox.     But,  as  to  learning,  so  in  respect  of 

278 


WESTFIELD  RIVER  BRANCHES 

the  Berkshires,  there  is  no  royal  road,  unless 
indeed  you  take  the  railroad  train,  and  that 
is  confined  to  a  narrow  trail.  The  "terrible 
Glasgow  or  Westfield  mountain"  which  Gen. 
Henry  Knox  so  dreaded  is  even  yet  not  easy 
to  climb,  and  in  the  days  of  the  pioneers  it 
was  far  harder.  The  first  route,  the  way  of 
the  settlers,  was  hardest  of  all,  and  note  has 
already  been  taken  of  the  Hampden  and 
Berkshire  turnpike  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Before  that  was  cut  through,  and  while  the 
choice  seemed  to  be  confined  to  the  old  Birch  hill 
route  or  the  way  by  the  river  and  up  the  hill 
from  Westfield  river  branches,  another  road 
was  exploited  in  the  year  1780,  on  petition 
"of  a  Number  of  Inhabitants  of  the  Town  of 
Blandford."  The  road  asked  for  was  to  begin 
at  "Wellers  Mills  in  Westfield."  Thence  it 
was  to  proceed  to  "Whippernung,"  then 
crossing  the  river  "by  Lovewell  Thomas's," 
wherever  that  may  have  been,  it  was  to  pass 
Titus  Doolittle's.  Just  where  Doolittle's  was 
I  cannot  definitely  say,  but  I  strongly  suspect 
it  was  not  very  far  below  the  present  village 
of  Russell,  on  the  river  bank.  From  Doo- 
little's the  road  was  asked  for  "the  best  way 

279 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

the  ground  will  admit  untill  it  joins  the  Road 
from  Murraysfield  to  Blandford,  as  hereby," 
the  petitioners  add,  "the  Road  from  Pitts- 
field  &  Albany  to  Westfield  would  be  shortened 
and  Westfield  mountain  avoided."  The  pro- 
posed entrance  of  this  highway  into  Bland- 
ford  from  the  east  was  about  five  miles  in  a 
bee  line  to  the  north  of  the  old  route. 

The  commissioners  granted  the  prayer  of 
the  petitioners,  and  the  road  was  made  to 
pass  the  house  of  Philemon  Doolittle,  no 
mention  being  made  of  Titus  Doolittle  of  the 
petition.  Now  Philemon  Doolittle  had  at 
this  time  a  farm  in  the  five-hundred-acre  lot 
numbered  40,  through  which  Black's  brook 
runs,  and  which  is  bounded  on  the  west  by 
the  settlement  lots,  and  on  the  east  by  the 
town  of  Russell.  Two  roads  enter  this  lot 
from  the  town  last  named;  one  from  the 
river  road  a  little  west  of  the  village,  passing 
along  up  the  north  bank  of  Black's  brook, 
which  runs  through  a  mighty  gorge.  The 
road  takes  the  steep  incline  on  the  top  of  a 
bank  of  sand  as  fine  as  that  of  the  sea,  then 
through  meadow  and  upland  to  the  Hunt- 
ington,  or  old  Murray  field,   road,   a  mile  or 

280 


WESTFIELD  RIVER  BRANCHES 

two  above  John  Bolton's  old  farm.  The 
other  road  passes  through  the  same  farm  lot 
on  the  south  side  of  the  brook,  farther  distant 
from  it,  and  has  been  known  in  later  time  as 
the  Stony  gutter  road,  the  upper  part  of 
which  has  in  recent  years  been  abandoned, 
and  connection  made  with  the  other  road. 
It  used  to  run  directly  up  the  hill  to  the 
Cochran  place.  On  one  of  these  two  roads 
Philemon  Doolittle  lived. 

This  section  of  the  town  traversed  by  these 
two  roads,  midway  between  the  Cochran 
place  and  the  present  village  of  Russell, 
was  formerly  known  as  the  "East  part." 
It  was  a  busy,  thriving  community,  with 
good  farms.  The  upland  mowings  are  even 
now  far-stretching  and  attractive.  There 
were  shops  along  the  brook,  and  a  tavern  or 
two  offered  hospitality  to  the  traveller  and 
afforded  a  rendezvous  in  leisure  hours  for 
the  men  of  the  neighborhood.  Roger  Parks 
had  his  tavern  in  1783  apparently  on  the 
southerly  of  these  roads,  near  to  the 
extreme  boundary  of  the  town.  The  house 
stands  there  empty,  on  a  marvellously  beauti- 
ful  plateau,    imposing  monument   of   a   for- 

281 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

gotten  day.  There  are  roomy  and  empty 
horse  sheds  in  the  rear.  The  old  well-sweep 
and  "moss-covered  bucket"  no  longer  inspire 
in  boyish  souls  a  store  of  "fond  recollection" 
for  later  years,  but  are  useless  and  dry  except 
to  entice  the  sentimental  passer  to  focus  his 
camera  upon  them  or  weave  in  his  imagina- 
tion a  fabric  of  story  which  no  historian  has 
ever  transcribed.  Warham  Parks  was  also 
out  there  in  1784  and  '85;  and  not  improbably 
began  his  career  as  a  landlord  in  this  Parks 
homestead. 

The  records  tell  not  a  tithe  of  what  the 
curious  seeker  would  like  to  know  about 
this  ancient  community,  and  I  have  not 
discovered  a  soul  that  can  tell  me  much  of 
anything  about  it.  But  the  registry  of  deeds 
reveals  a  surprising  activity  in  this  location 
after  the  count}^  road  just  described  was 
opened.  Here  were  Parkses  and  Knoxes 
and  Cooks  and  Days  and  Phelpses.  Here 
Randall  Nye  came  to  settle.  Here  Logan 
Crosby  rose  from  the  low  estate  of  "laborer" 
until  he  finally  assumed  the  proud  honor  of 
"Gentleman,"  which  latter  title,  almost  of 
course,   was   won   through   some   connection 

282 


WESTFIELD  RIVER  BRANCHES 

with  the  inn  business.  There  were  clothiers' 
shops  in  this  community.  WilHam  Knox  had 
his  "Cyder  mill"  and  Sylvester  and  Son,  who 
kept  store  in  the  centre  of  the  town — the  new 
village — got  a  foot-hold  here  through  execu- 
tion processes,  and  not  improbably  opened  a 
store,  as  has  been  recited  in  a  previous 
chapter.  William  Knox  had  a  retailer's 
license,  and  so,  by  inference,  kept  a  store,  in 
1785  and  1787,  and  I  know  not  how  much 
longer.  Plin  Day  was  a  hatter,  operating 
hereabout,  and  had  a  license  in  1816.  I 
have  been  unable  from  the  deeds  satisfac- 
torily to  locate  the  buildings  of  these  men, 
and  diligent  inquiry  among  elderly  men 
having  general  knowledge  of  local  traditions 
has  resulted  only  in  fixing  the  initial  ignor- 
ance. So  successfully  has  oblivion  laid  its 
heavy  hand  on  so  much  of  this  old  town  and 
the  adjoining  sections  in  respect  of  the  silent 
past,  that  there  are  by  very  far  many  more 
things  which  the  historian  wants  to  know 
and  cannot  find  out  than  are  discernible. 
Houses  that  are  left  indicate  a  one-time  thrift 
and  success,  a  breadth  of  activity  and  a 
grasp  of  resource  where  now  is  emptiness  or 

283 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

the  incoming  of  the  very  humble  foreigner, 
or  else  of  the  non-resident  land-holder  who 
buys  up  large  acres  of  sheep  pasture,  while 
the  old  homes  for  the  most  part  stand  deso- 
lated, the  swift  prey  of  wind,  weather  and 
decay.  The  other  day  a  gentleman,  losing 
his  way  and  wandering  off  upon  the  road  on 
which  stands  the  tavern  with  the  well-sweep 
near  by,  with  curtainless  windows  and  grass- 
grown  paths,  fetched  up  at  last  to  report 
drearily  that  he  had  seen  nothing  but  hills 
and  abandoned  school-houses,  and  could  not 
discover  where  ever  the  children  came  from 
that  might  have  filled  those  fountains  of 
knowledge.  There  were  three  such  institu- 
tions on  the  route  of  his  solitary  digression. 

The  surveyed  limit  of  the  county  road 
which  pierced  this  interesting  corner  of  the 
town  was  by  one  of  these  idle  school-houses: 
"to  Mr.  Cochrans  north  Side  of  his  House 
West  28  rods  to  a  heap  of  Stones  the  Southerly 
side  of  the  Highway  by  the  School  House  be- 
tween Mr.  John  Crooks  and  Mr.  Mitchells." 
"Ten  miles  three  Quarters  &  Sixty  six  rods," 
the  record  runs,' "from  said  (Weller's)  Mills 
to  the  County  Road  in  Blanford,"  meaning, 

284 


WESTFIELD  RIVER  BRANCHES 

as  T  suppose,  from  end  to  end, — Weller's  in 
■Westfield  to  Cochran's  in  Blandford. 


285 


Chapter  Eleven 
The  North  End 


THE  "North  End"  so  called  was  an  im- 
portant settlement  of  the  town  almost 
from  the  very  first.  The  term  is 
found  in  the  town  records  as  early  as  1742, 
when  Walter  Steward  was  made  road  sur- 
veyor for  that  district.  In  1760  the  same 
gentleman  was  constable  for  that  end  of 
town.  The  northern  part  of  the  town  street 
was  not  the  part  designated  by  the  term 
under  consideration.  Above  the  home  lot 
23  there  was  no  thoroughfare,  only  a  local 
road.  In  the  lot  just  named  another  road 
veered  off  to  the  northwest,  crossing  diago- 
nally several  of  the  settlement  lots;  then  it 
ran  between  the  farm  lots  20  and  21,  into  17 
and  2  and  on  to  No.  4,  or  the  town  of  Becket. 
It  was  early  a  town  road,  and  became  a 
county  road  by  1759,  the  farther  extension 
of  it  being  at  Pontusuc,  now  Pittsfield.  In 
1801  it  was  made  part  of  the  Eleventh 
Massachusetts    Turnpike.       This    road,    be- 


THE  NORTH  END 

tween  the  home  lots  and  the  point  at  which 
it  passed  beyond  the  hmits  of  the  town,  was 
the  North  end. 

When  the  turnpike  was  laid  out,  damages 
were  awarded  as  follows:  to  Levi  Boies, 
$10;  "Wido"  Jane  Wallace,  $12;  Joseph 
Badger,  $4;  William  Brown,  $5;  Isaac  Gibbs, 
$26;  Oliver  Coe,  $6;  Ephraim  Howe,  $4; 
Samuel  Thrall,  $10;  James  Beard,  $9;  Ben- 
jamin Taggard  (Taggart) ,  $2.  Mr.  Gibbs, 
in  his  Historical  Address  several  times  quoted 
in  these  pages,  is  probably  right  in  the  asser- 
tion that  this  extension  of  the  town  street 
was  the  first  road  over  which  stages  passed 
through  Blandford  from  Springfield  to  Albany, 
inasmuch  as  the  old  Berkshire  road,  the  post 
road  so  called,  was  abandoned  as  the  popular 
route  before  the  time  of  stages  came  in. 

The  lecturer  just  now  quoted  sa^^s,  "Per- 
haps it  will  not  be  boasting  for  us  to  state, 
that  for  six  miles  on  this  road,  there  are 
better  farms  than  on  any  other  road  for  the 
same  distance  upon  the  mountains."  It  is 
indeed  a  most  charming  country  of  rolling 
plateau  and  meadow,  with  commanding  land- 
scapes stretching  far  onward,  north  and  west 

287 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

to  the  hills  of  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont, 
and  to  Grey  lock  in  the  far  northwest  comer 
of  the  State  looking  down  on  the  institution 
where  so  many  of  Blandford's  early  and  dis- 
tinguished sons  sat  at  the  feet  of  the  sages  of 
Williams  college. 

Fringing  the  westerly  edge  of  this  North 
end  settlement,  lay  the  Green  woods  which 
bulked  so  large  in  the  itineraries  of  the  stage 
lines  and  which,  so  far  as  this  section  of  them 
is  concerned,  bear  the  name  to  this  day. 

Ranged  along  this  highway  was  a  con- 
siderable number  of  comfortable  homes,  some 
of  which  are  now  in  the  last  stages  of  ruin, 
while  others  are  still  occupied.  Signs  of 
decrepitude  multiply  with  the  years.  There 
was  a  bunch  of  taverns  in  this  neighborhood. 
Except  for  the  passing  of  the  stages,  the  little 
community  must  have  lived  a  life  very  much 
of  its  own,  the  Sunday  meeting  being  pretty 
nearly  the  only  occasion  for  mixing  with  the 
rest  of  the  people.  High  and  sightly,  with 
wide-spreading  fields  and  genial  and  inviting 
aspect,  spite  of  now  and  then  a  crumbling 
ruin,  the  community,  still  with  its  school, 
appeals    to    the    passer    as    substantial    and 

288 


Harroun — SiNNET —  Bruce  Tavern  and  Bar-room 


THE  NORTH  END 

hospitable.  Plenty  of  life  was  there,  as 
tradition  abundantly  attests. 

Long  years  before  the  stages,  came  the 
taverns.  When  the  stages  at  last  arrived, 
a  few  years  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution, 
tavern  business  increased  greatly.  Then, 
within  fifty  miles  of  Albany  there  were  as 
man}^  taverns  ranged  along  the  turnpike  to 
the  Connecticut  river,  and  these  were  not 
enough  to  accommodate  the  demand.  Visitors 
to  Blandford,  learning  something  of  the  tavern 
story  of  the  town,  wonder  at  the  tale.  It 
is  in  fact  but  part  of  the  larger  story.  A 
practical  repetition  of  what  went  on  in  the 
street  nearer  the  meeting-house  might  be 
told  of  the  North  end.  Almost  every  house 
on  the  thoroughfare  for  a  few  miles  was  a 
tavern  or  looks  as  if  it  had  been.  Three  of 
record  still  stand  in  consecutive  order,  while 
a  fourth  was  a  licensed  house. 

The  oldest  building  in  this  neighborhood 
is  near  the  comer  of  the  road  leading  to  North 
Blandford,  once  known  as  the  road  to  the 
mill.  Decay  has  fast  taken  hold  on  it,  a 
great  tree  has  blown  over  upon  it,  and  soon 
the  old   caravansary  will  be  no  more.      This 

289 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

comer  lot  was  first  disposed  of  by  the  pro- 
prietor, John  Foye,  to  James  Lumus,  in 
1759,  who  sold  it  to  Ephraim  Gibbs  three 
years  later.  Ten  years  later  still,  Gibbs 
passed  it  on  to  Solomon  Brown.  There  then 
stood  on  it  "a  Mansion  House  &  a  Barn." 
Without  a  reasonable  doubt  it  is  the  same 
as  that  which  now  feebly  survives.  Deacon 
Ephraim  Gibbs  had  a  retailer's  license  in 
1768,  and  for  the  years  following  until  and 
including  1773.  Just  where  he  went  to  live 
and  continue  his  store  after  selling  out  to 
Brown  it  is  hard  to  say,  but  apparently  in 
this  near  vicinity,  where  Abner  Gibbs  lived 
after  him.  Ebenezer  Crocker  was  the  next 
owner,  1776  to  1780.  Then  David  Harroun 
bought  the  property  and  ran  the  house  as  a 
tavern.  Crocker  also  may  quite  likely  have 
been  employed  there  in  the  same  business. 
The  records  were  kept  only  interruptedly 
during  the  war,  or,  if  kept,  they  were  not  all 
preserved. 

A  significant  note  is  spread  upon  the  town 
records,  under  date  of  January  16,  1781, 
following  the  record  of  an  earlier  meeting 
devoted   to   choosing   commissioned   officers, 

290 


THE  NORTH  END 

raising  the  town's  quota  of  soldiers  and  pro- 
viding supplies.  At  the  later  meeting  just 
referred  to,  it  was  resolved  to  borrow  "500 
silver  dollars."  It  was  also  voted  "Granted 
to  David  Herren  (Harroun)  Seventy  two 
pounds  for  Transporting  Two  Hundred  weight 
of  powder  from  Boston  for  the  Towns  use." 
The  landlord  was  quite  a  natural  person  to 
choose  for  such  a  purpose,  as  the  nature  of 
his  business  took  him  now  and  then  to  Boston, 
and  he  was  always  a  man  of  affairs.  When 
he  returned  from  such  a  trip  his  bar-room 
would  be  neither  empty  nor  silent.  Two 
hundred  pounds  of  powder  in  saddle  bags  was 
a  delicate  and  responsible  freight  to  carry 
at  such  a  time,  and  stories  of  how  the  war 
was  going,  as  well  as  incidents  of  the  way, 
would  make  Harroun 's  house  for  a  time  a 
popular  place.  Of  course  the  lads  were 
there  to  hear  the  fathers  and  in  little  groups 
by  themselves  to  exchange  ideas.  Edward 
Field  says,*  "Nearly  every  one  of  the  country 
taverns  throughout  the  colonies  bore  some 
part  in  the  revolutionary  struggle.  Its  im- 
portance   in    the    community    made    it    the 

*  In  The^CoIonial  Tavern,  p.  265. 

291 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

rendezvous  for  the  townspeople;  within  it 
the  patriots  of  '76  bade  their  last  farewell  to 
friends  and  neighbors  before  joining  the 
army;  around  the  board  in  the  dining-room 
the  town  authorities  made  provisions  for 
supplying  the  army  in  the  field  and  the  dis- 
tressed families  of  those  who  were  fighting 
for  liberty,  or  had  fallen  in  freedom's  cause. 
Here  was  received  the  first  news  of  victory 
or  defeat,  and  when  peace  threw  her  mantle 
over  the  contending  forces,  the  walls  of  the 
old  taverns  rang  with  the  shouts  of  victory, 
and  the  returning  victors  were  feted  and 
feasted  in  the  same  familiar  room  wherein 
they  had  subscribed  to  their  oaths  of  enlist- 
ment, and  where  had  been  laid  the  plans  for 
the  building  of  a  new  nation." 

David  Harroun  sold  his  tavern  to  Margaret 
Sinnet  in  1783.  Margaret  married  Ebenezer 
Bruce  and  sold  the  place  to  James  Sinnet  in 
1787.  The  Sinnets  had  their  homesteads  at 
lot  23  of  the  first  division,  later  owned  by 
Samuel  Knox,  and  the  two  properties  became 
more  or  less  interrelated  on  account  of  the 
intermarriage.  The  Sinnets  and  Bruces,  in- 
cluding   Jesse    Bruce,    apparently    a    son    of 

292 


1       Taggart    Tavern 
2      Capt.    Abner  Gibbs's  Hous? 


THE  NORTH  END 

Ebenezer,  appear  to  have  carried  the  license 
along  well  toward  the  end  of  the  century  or 
even  past  it,  when  the  career  of  the  place  as 
a  tavern  ceased,  and  the  North  end  at  last 
added  to  its  other  distinctions  that  of  having 
a  resident  physician  in  the  person  of  Thomas 
Lucas,  whose  father  bought  this  place. 

Nathaniel  Taggart  came  to  this  part  of 
town  in  1759  from  Second  division  street. 
He  was  a  blacksmith.  He  sold  his  land  in 
the  second  division  in  part  to  William  Mitchel, 
who  operated  the  mill,  and,  in  1765,  to  Rev. 
James  Morton.  It  seemed  always  easy  for  a 
blacksmith  in  the  olden  days  to  become  an 
innholder.  There  is  record  of  Taggart 's  license 
in  1769  and  three  years  following,  which  is  not 
saying  he  was  not  in  the  business  much 
longer.  The  house  is  a  little  to  the  east  of 
the  one  last  described,  was  outwardly  of  the 
salt-box  type,  but  the  interior  plan  was 
essentially  like  that  of  its  near  neighbor  to 
the  west.  It  was  not  meanly  appointed,  if 
one  may  judge  from  the  fact  that  its  parlor 
walls  were  hand-frescoed.  The  house  was 
built  to  stand  for  centuries,  as  all  of  those 
old  houses  were,  and  as  all  of  them  would 

293 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

stand,  if  the}^  had  received  the  care  of  con- 
tinuous occupancy  and  thrift.  The  cellar 
underneath  this  old  hostelry  is  well  worthy 
of  a  visit,  filled  as  of  yore  with  all  good  things 
of  farm  and  kitchen.  One  sees  there  the 
blackened  and  hardened  stringers  of  quartered 
oak,  tough  as  steel,  and  its  stairway  made  of 
steps  also  quartered  from  the  log  and  spiked 
upon  heavy  rails  slanted  to  receive  them. 
The  first  proprietor  of  the  house  died  in  1787, 
in  the  sixty-first  year  of  his  age.  His  tomb- 
stone in  the  old  burying-ground  near  to  the 
street  is  a  pretentious  sandstone  slab,  with 
face  to  the  sky,  resting  on  four  substantial 
pillars.  It  bears  this  appealing  epitaph: 
Some  hearty  friend 
Shall  drop  a  Tear 
On  our  dry  Bones 

and  say 

these  once  were  strong 

as  mine  appear 

And  mine  must 

be  as  they 

Of   the   numerous   conventions   assembled 

to  take  counsel  concerning  matters  of  war, 

finance  or  general  welfare,  Nathaniel  Taggart 

had    represented    the    town   at   one,    as   the 

294 


THE  NORTH  END 

following  minute  of  August  16,  1779,  bears 
witness:  "Granted  to  Nathaniel  Taggart 
fifteen  Pound  for  going  to  Northampton  to 
Convention  two  days  and  a  half."  There 
was  more  discussion  for  tavern  frequenters. 

The  name  of  Taggart,  albeit  no  family  in 
Blandford    now    bears    it,    is    more    than    a 
reminiscence.     A   school   is   still   in   the   old 
North  end,  whose  numbers  have  within  two 
or  three  years  past  rivalled  those  of  any  other 
school  in  town.    One  might  find  many  a  citi- 
zen unable  to  tell  the  number  of  the  district, 
but  few  who  would  not  know  it  as    that  of 
the  Taggart  school.     In  due  course  of  time 
the  mortal  remains  of  Widow  Taggart  had 
followed  those  of  her  husband  to  their  final 
resting    place    in     the     old    burying- ground, 
where  the  curious  visitor  reads,  carved  on  an 
upright  sandstone  slab,  this  inscription: 
In  memory  of 
M"  Jane  Taggart : 
wife  of  Mr  Nathaniel  Tag 
gart,  who  died  August  24th 
1808,  in  the  80th  year  of  her 
age. 
In  her  will  she  bequeathed  to  the 
3'^  school  district  in  Blandford 

295 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

1200  Dolls. 
To  commemorate  her  Charity 
&  worth,  this  Monument  is 
erected  by  said  Destrict. 
Visitors  have  been  seen  to  stand  before 
this  stone  erected  by  the  grateful  "Destrict" 
in  wonder  and  awe  when  they  considered 
what  a  paradise  of  joy  the  girls  of  the  olden 
time  must  have  had  with  so  many  dolls.  In 
truth,  if  the  gift  had  been  dolls  instead  of 
dollars,  perhaps  some  uncomfortable  history 
might  have  been  saved  to  the  people  most 
concerned;  for  while  the  fund  has  promoted 
education,  time  has  been  when  it  also  bred 
envy  and  discord.  A  prolonged  and  ex- 
pensive litigation  grew  out  of  its  administra- 
tion, and  neighborhood  quarrels  were  pro- 
moted. There  was  at  one  time  a  brick  school 
standing  within  the  district  on  ground  claimed 
in  part  by  one  individual,  and  in  part  by 
another.  In  the  night  the  building  was 
sawn  clean  in  two  from  top  to  bottom.  After 
that  the  school-house  took  fire.  This  fund 
has  now  increased  to  something  near  $5,000. 
It  is  still  administered — no  longer  in  strife — 
for  the  benefit  of  the  district  by  a  board  of 
trustees  annually  elected. 

296 


THE  NORTH  END 

The  Gibbs  families  were  somewhat  numer- 
ous in  the  North  end.  Deacon  Ephraim 
Gibbs,  who  was  a  large  dealer  in  real  estate, 
and  built  him  a  house  on  the  north  side  of 
the  road,  a  little  west  of  the  Sanderson  hill 
road,  otherwise  called  the  Smith  road,  in 
lot  20,  carried  a  retailer's  license  from  1768  to 
1773.  The  house,  which  is  in  good  preserva- 
tion, bears  the  likeness  of  the  traditional 
Blandford  tavern — a  substantial  two-story 
house  with  gable  roof,  broad  side  to  the 
street,  and  the  bar-room  door  on  the  corner. 

The  old  Baird  tavern,  standing  on  the 
corner  of  the  county  road  and  the  road  to 
Chester,  is  a  well  preserved  relic  of  the  olden 
time  whose  history  has  been  transmitted 
through  an  unbroken  line  of  succession  to 
the  present  generation.  The  house  is  very 
similar  in  plan  to  the  Boies  tavern,  standing 
in  the  same  relation  to  the  street,  and  its 
corner  bar-room  door  looking  up  the  same 
toward  the  school- house.  Samuel  A.  Barthol- 
omew, who  went  to  his  long  home  two  or 
three  winters  ago  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty, 
a  worthy  representative  of  the  old  country 
squire,  passed  on  the  precious  traditions  of 

297 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

the  house  from  memories  of  his  boyhood 
and  from  the  remembered  stories  of  those 
whose  hves  were  spent  in  the  midst  of  turn- 
pike and  tavern  days  in  this  old  inn. 

The  farm  was  bought  by  James  Baird  in 
1768.*  When  the  house  was  building  a  man 
labored  two  months  with  a  yoke  of  oxen 
drawing  and  laying  stone  for  the  foundation 
and  chimney.  The  timbers  are  still  sound, 
and  the  house  stands  firmer  probably  than 
any  house  built  in  town  for  two  generations. 
The  original  chimney  and  fire  places  are 
there  still,  some  of  the  panels  are  left  in  the 
rooms,  and  the  doors  still  swing  on  their 
home-made  hinges.  There  was  a  wine  cellar 
the  only  entrance  to  which  was  originally 
by  a  separate  flight  of  stairs  close  to  the  bar. 

Mr.  Bartholomew  habitually  spoke  of  the 
road  which  passes  this  house  as  a  govern- 
ment road — "continental  road"  was  the  term 
he  used.  Our  last  acquaintance  with  it  was 
as    a    turnpike.     That    learned    and    careful 

*  Mr.  Bartholomew  gave  the  date  as  1748,  but  the  deed  says  1768.  Mr. 
Bartholomew  also  regarded  the  purchaser  as  the  original  settler  of 
the  name  given,  but  he  was  probably  the  son,  James,  Jr.  The 
license,  according  to  the  county  record,  was  twenty  years  later  still, 
viz.,  178S.  But  as  in  the  case  of  Colonel  Sloper  and  Squire 
Jedediah  Smith,  not  to  mention  others,  so  perhaps  here  also  the 
actual  business  was  entered  upon  much  earlier  than  the  accessible 
documents  bear  witness. 

298 


THE  NORTH  END 

historian,  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland,  also  wrote  of  a 
road  from  Fally's  store  "by  the  West  Branch 
of  the  river  through  parts  of  Blandford  and 
Chester,    until   it   reached   what   was   known 
as  the  Government  road,  by  which  it  ran  to 
Becket,  connecting  the  road  from  Blandford 
to    Pittsfield."*     Such    a    road    as    this   was 
exempt  from  all  tolls,   and  obtained  by  so 
much  an   advantage  over  all  others,  f     The 
idea  was  an  important  development  of  the 
history   of   travel   and   traffic   in   the   period 
just  preceding  the  railroads.     My  old  friend 
of  the  one-time  inn  told  me  that  the  measured 
distance  between  his  house  and  the  post  office 
was  just  four  miles,  while  that  between  the 
village  of  North  Blandford  and  the  top  of 
the  hill  overlooking  the  village  by  the  house 
of  the  late  William  Bowers,    at  the  westerly 
edge  of  the  ten-acre  lot,  was  three  and  a  half 
miles.      Notwithstanding     this     very    slight 
difference    in   favor   of   the   latter   road,    the 
turnpike    of    1829    robbed    the    continental 
road  of  half  its  stage  business,  "the  distance 
being  shortened,"  said  the  old  gentleman  in 

*  History  of  Western  Massachusetts,  Vol.  I,  p.  313. 

t  I  have  not  been  able,  as  I  would  like,  to  get  at  the  detailed  facts  about 
this  national  road. 

299 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

fine  irony,  "by  lengthening  the  miles."  Of 
the  old  tavern,  standing  at  the  corner  of  two 
important  thoroughfares,  it  might  have  been 
written,  as  James  Whitcomb  Riley  wrote* 
of  one  other : 

"The  upper  story  looked  squarely  down 

Upon  the  main  street,  and  the  main  highway 

From  East  to  West, — historic  in  its  day. 

Known  as  the  National  Road — old-timers,  all 

Who  linger  yet,  will  happily  recall 

It  as  the  scene  and  handiwork,  as  well 

As  property,  of  'Uncle  Sam,'  and  tell 

Of  its  importance,  'long  and  long  afore 

Railroads  wuz  ever  dreamp'  of!' — Furthermore, 

The  reminiscent  first  inhabitants 

Will  make  that  old  road  blossom  with  romance 

Of  snowy  caravans,  in  long  parade 

Of  covered  vehicles,  of  every  grade 

From  ox-cart  of  most  primitive  design. 

To  Conestoga  wagons,  with  their  fine 

Deep-chested  six-horse  teams,  in  heavy  gear, 

High  hames  and  chiming  bells — to  childish  ear 

And  eye  entrancing  as  the  glittering  train 

Of  some  sun-smitten  pageant  of  old  Spain. 

And,  in  like  spirit,  haply  they  will  tell 

You  of  the  roadside  forests,  and  the  yell 

Of  'wolfs'  and  'painters,'  in  the  long  night-ride. 

And  'screeching  catamounts'  on  every  side, — 

*  In  his  "The  Child  World." 

300 


THE  NORTH  END 

Of  stagecoach  days,  highwaymen,  and  strange 

crimes, 
And  yet  unriddled  mysteries  of  the  times 
Called  'Good  Old.'     'And  why  "Good  Old?"  'once 

a  rare 
Old  chronicler  was  asked,  who  brushed  the  hair 
Out  of  his  twinkling  eyes  and  said, — 'Well  John, 
They're    "good   old   times"   because   they're   dead 

and  gone!'  " 

Of  "  'wolfs'  and  'painters,'  in  the  long 
night  ride, 
And  'screeching  catamounts'  on  every  side" 
there  are  traditions  yet  lingering  among  the 
elders  of  the  old  stock,  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation.  It  was  in  these 
very  Green  woods  fringing  the  North  end 
that  John  Noble  found  himself  one  evening 
a  good  deal  later  than  he  liked  to  be  out.  He 
was  meeting  an  appointment  with  a  friend  in 
Becket,  and  had  been  detained  from  starting 
at  as  early  an  hour  as  he  had  intended.  It 
was  universally  considered  unsafe  to  be  out 
alone  of  an  evening.  Out  there  in  the  woods 
he  heard  the  wolves  and  hurried  on.  He 
had  crossed  an  intersecting  road  and  had 
passed  beyond  it  a  little  way,  when,  looking 
back,  he  saw  the  whole  pack  crossing  where 

301 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

he  had  crossed  a  few  minutes  before,  but  at 
right  angles  to  his  path,  the  hungry  and 
ravening  brutes  being  too  stupid  and  raging 
to  take  accurately  the  scent  or  look  to  one 
side.  John  Noble  tarried  not  by  the  way 
and  reached  his  destination  to  the  relief  of 
his  friend  as  well  as  of  himself.  This  same 
John  Noble  was  on  a  marketing  trip,  so  the 
story  goes,  when  he  was  less  fortunate. 
Having  on  a  load  of  hams,  he  was  compelled 
to  dole  them  out  one  by  one  to  a  pack  of 
wolves  which  this  time  found  him  out.  He 
reached  a  place  of  safety  just  as  he  had  de- 
livered the  last  ham.  It  was  not  very  far 
away  from  the  North  end,  in  the  quarter 
once  called  New  state,  w^here  Warren  Parks 
had  an  interview  with  a  'catamount.'  This 
was  early  in  the  day,  and  the  beast  was  in  a 
challenging  mood.  Parks  had  no  weapon, 
but  he  was  a  powerful  man.  When  it  came 
to  a  question  between  'catamount'  and  Parks, 
that  individual  intended  that  the  fight  should 
not  be  altogether  one-sided.  The  cat  stripped 
all  the  clothes  off  him,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  hang  round  the  bushes  until  nightfall, 
when  he  could  get  home  in  his  state  of  nature 

302 


THE  NORTH  END 

without  a  shock  to  his  feeUngs  and  those  of 
his  neighbors.     But  the  cat  was  no  more. 

Of  the  personahty  of  the  man  who  was 
landlord  of  the  Beard  house  for  so  many  years, 
little  is  known.  It  is  almost  too  bad  to  take 
that  little  from  the  quaint  and  melancholy 
chapters  of  church  discipline.  Such  pro- 
ceeding seems  to  smack  of  indelicacy  or  ir- 
reverence, as  though  Beard  were  a  sinner 
above  all  others,  or  as  though  nothing  should 
be  too  sacred,  or  too  private  to  be  dragged 
out  into  the  lime-light  of  a  curious  modern 
age.  But  perhaps  it  may  be  considered 
that  in  respect  of  self-indulgence  on  the 
Lord's  day,  a  solitary  sinner  of  a  century  and 
a  quarter  ago  has  a  good  deal  of  company 
in  the  time  that  now  is,  while  as  for  the  rest, 
it  is  not  every  offender  who  has  either  con- 
science or  courage  to  make  confession.  Be- 
sides, such  events  must  be  told  if  one  would 
really  learn  the  spirit  and  manner  of  the  time. 
It  was  made  public  then:  why  not  now  let  it 
speak  for  a  generation  that  is  gone  indeed, 
but  which  had  its  moulding  power  over  the 
century  which  followed?  So  have  I  already 
spoken  of  others  "of  like  passions  as  we  are." 

303 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

In  the  flush  of  spring,  when  the  shad  were 
running,  James  Beard  along  with  other  fellow 
mortals  went  fishing.  No  picture  of  the 
ancient  times  could  ever  be  complete  without 
the  story  of  the  shad  season.  Salmon  was 
the  fish  of  the  aristocrac3^  who  considered 
shad  to  be  fit  only  for  the  vulgar.  After  1750 
the  price  of  this  latter  fish  dropped  to  a  penny 
each.  During  and  following  the  Revolution, 
the  price  rose  to  two  or  three  coppers  or 
more  for  each  fish.  Such  prices  brought 
them  within  the  means  of  the  poorest.  So 
the  plebeians  ate  shad,  while  the  patricians 
feasted  on  salmon.  Shad  figure  in  the  records 
of  sales  of  Samuel  Sloper,  but  no  salmon, 
for  it  is  hardly  likely  they  found  their  way  to 
the  humble  homes  of  Blandford.  The  shad 
season  attracted  crowds  to  the  river,  some 
coming  as  far  as  from  the  Berkshire  towns, 
equipped  with  bags  in  which  to  bring  home 
the  catch.  It  was  a  gala  time,  and  farmers' 
turnouts  were  to  be  seen  on  every  hilltop  and 
in  every  glade  going  and  returning  during 
the  carnival  season.  And  since  fish  do  not 
keep  as  long  in  May  or  June  as  in  December, 
and  inasmuch  as  the  shad  chose  the  warmer 

304 


THE  NORTH  END 

months  of  spring  to  spawn,  our  friend  Beard 
came  to  his  downfall  in  the  days  of  spring. 

It  was  Sunday,  and  Baird's  catch  of  shad 
was  far  from  the  tavern  at  the  North  end. 
By  Sunday  night  they  were  at  "Sacket's," 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  in  Westfield. 
It  has  since  been  known  as  Washington's 
tavern,  and  is  just  where  the  original  company 
of  Blandford  settlers  stopped  to  rest  over 
night  before  their  memorable  mountain  climb. 
The  next  day,  doubtless,  the  fish  were  on  the 
table  tempting  the  appetites  of  James  Beard's 
family  and  guests.  By  the  time  they  had 
reached  Blandford  heights  the  fish  were 
aristocratic  enough  for  any. 

James  Beard  hardened  his  heart  against 
minister  and  elders  who  labored  with  him 
earnestly  and  long.  It  was  more  than  a 
year  before  he  came  to  a  better  mind;  but 
come  at  last  he  did,  and  the  Sunday  before 
Christmas,  1789,  his  public  confession  was 
read  "before  the  Church  and  congregation," 
the  Rev.  Joseph  Badger  presiding  in  the 
pulpit:  "I  James  Beard  under  a  sense  of  the 
sinfulness  of  violating  the  commands  of  God 
&  of  my  own  conduct  in  that  particular,  do 

305 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

now  humbly  acknowledge  that  a  year  ago 
some  time  last  spring  I  did  exceeding  sin- 
fully in  performing  my  own  business  on  the 
Lords  day  in  bringing  a  load  of  shad  fish  from 
Connecticut  river  to  sackets  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain."  Then  follows  a  further  and 
explicit  portrayal  of  his  sin  in  violation  "both 
of  divine  &  human  laws,"  and  of  his  offence 
to  his  "christian  brethren  and  reproach  to 
the  christian  name,"  concluding  with  the 
expressed  wish  that  henceforth  he  might  be 
kept  from  "wandering  out  of  the  path  of 
duty,  and  be  more  faithful"  in  his  "christian 
walk."  Thus  was  Beard's  tavern  given  a 
practical  application  of  its  moral  tutelage 
under  the  church,  and  the  whole  community 
reminded  of  the  reign  of  a  higher  law. 


306 


Chapter  Twelve 

Tales  of  Stage-Coach  and 
Wayside  Inn 

THE  Bartholomews  came  into  possession 
of  the  Baird  tavern  in  1810,  and  began 
to  occupy  it,  though  no  longer  as  a 
public  house,  in  1814.  It  was  the  home  for 
nearly  eighty  yearsof  Samuel  A.  Bartholomew, 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter.  He 
remembered  the  stages  well,  two  passing  the 
house  in  either  direction  each  day.  Each 
coach  was  driven  by  four  horses,  and  the 
vehicles  were  packed  full.  The  stages  con- 
tinued to  stop  at  the  old  stand  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  a  never-failing  well  of  pure,  cold 
water.  Perhaps  they  prized  the  water  more 
as  the  taverns  became  fewer.  In  any  event 
the  horses  doubtless  appreciated  nature's 
original  gift.  With  a  genial  twinkle  in  his 
blue  eyes  this  octogenarian  used  to  tell  with 
relish  the  stories  of  his  boyhood;  how  he 
remembered,  when  a  small  child,  being  daily 
tossed  up  by  the  driver  of  the  stage  to  the 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

high  boot  of  the  coach  to  ride  as  far  as  to  the 
next  house,  the  one-time  inn  of  David  Har- 
roun  and  Ebenezer  Bruce,  and  there 
was  lowered  down  again  gently  to  the 
ground  to  run  back  home — "hundreds  of 
times,"  he  said.  He  recalled  the  later  stages, 
when  they  were  run  by  relays  of  ten  miles  at 
a  lap.  The  driver  would  blow  his  horn  at 
the  distance  of  about  half  a  mile  from  the 
stopping  place,  where  the  men  at  the  stable, 
hearing  it,  would  harness  fresh  horses  and 
have  them  all  ready  to  continue  the  journey 
without  delay.  Then  they  would  go  on 
again  their  mad  pace  of  ten  miles  an  hour. 
These  were  the  "express"  stages.  When 
these  things  were  done  Blandford  was  not 
in  a  corner. 

"Jerod"  Cables  was  the  stable  boy — a 
negro — and  Duty  Underwood  sold  the  rum 
at  the  Baird  house.  These  worthies  used  to 
tell  Mr.  Bartholomew  about  the  old  tavern 
days,  and  how,  in  the  busy  season  of  the 
year ,  the  house  often  entertained  from  forty 
to  fifty  teams  in  a  night.  In  reply  to  the 
young  listener's  doubt  of  the  truth  of  such  a 
yarn,    old    "Jerod"    would   give   his   peculiar 

308 


1      The  Baird  Tavern 
2      Bar-room — The  Modern  Living-Room 


STAGE-COACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

African  laugh,  and  reply,  "My  boy,  you  don't 
know  how  we  lived  in  them  days.  The  barn 
was  one  hundred  feet  long,  with  an  outside 
shed  running  the  entire  length  of  it,  and  stood 
where  your  garden  is  now.  When  teams 
began  to  stop  for  the  night,  we  filled  the  barn 
with  horses,  then  the  shed.  If  others  came, 
they  had  to  hitch  their  horses  out.  We  fed 
the  horses  hay;  each  teamster  carried  his 
own  grain;  the  house  furnished  the  men  their 
food  and  rum;  and  when  they  wished  to 
retire,  they  would  bring  in  their  buffalo 
robes,  and  camp  on  the  floor — they  would 
not  have  rested  in  a  bed."*  Incredulity  at 
such  a  tale  as  this  has  not  been  confined  to 
the  boy  listener.  Scepticism  of  a  similar 
sort  has  been  provoked  in  other  minds,  not 
excepting  the  initiated  in  tavern  service  of  a 
later  generation.  But  the  story  bears  the 
marks  of  authenticity.  The  railroad  had 
not  then  come  into  being  or  imagination.  A 
few  years  marked  the  passage  from  one  world 
into  another.  Reference  to  the  buffalo  robes 
and  the  "busy  season"  easily  places  this  rush 

*  This  story  I  have  given  almost  exactly  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Bartholo- 
mew, who,  though  he  had  lost  out  of  it  the  peculiar  narrative  flavor 
of  the  untutore'l  African,  had  nevertheless  retained  the  substance 
of  the  facts. 

309 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

of  tavern  patronage  and  rustic  travel  in  the 
heart  of  winter,  the  traditional  season  of 
trade  for  the  agriculturist.  So  high  an 
authority  on  these  matters  as  Mrs.  Earle 
puts  this  condition  of  winter  bustle  at  the 
taverns  among  the  veritable  commonplaces 
of  New  England  life,  and  Blandford  was  no 
exception:  "The  two-horse  pung,  or  the 
single-horse  pod,  shod  with  steel  shoes  an 
inch  thick,  was  closely  packed  with  the 
accumulated  farm  wealth — whole  pigs,  fir- 
kins of  butter,  casks  of  cheese  (four  cheeses 
in  a  cask,)  bags  of  beans,  peas  or  corn,  skins 
of  mink,  fox  and  fisher-cat  that  the  boys 
had  trapped,  birch  brooms  that  the  bo3^s  had 
made,  yarn  that  their  sisters  had  spun,  and 
stockings  and  mittens  that  they  had  knitted, 
— in  short,  an^'thing  that  a  New  England 
farm  could  produce  that  would  sell  to  any 
profit  in  a  New  England  town."  As  for  the 
sleeping  room,  "a  great  fire  was  built  in  the 
fireplace  of  either  front  room — the  bedroom 
and  parlor — and  round  it  in  a  semi-circle, 
feet  to  the  fire  and  heads  on  their  rolled-up 
buffalo  robes,  slept  the  tired  travellers.  .  .  . 
It  was  certainly  a  gay  winter  scene  as  sleigh 

310 


STAGE-COACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

after  sleigh  dashed  into  the  tavern  barn  or 
shed,  and  the  stiffened  driver,  after  'putting 
up'  his  steed,  walked  quiekly  to  the  bar-room, 
where  sat  the  host  behind  his  cage-like 
counter,  where  ranged  the  inspiring  barrels 
of  old  Medford  or  Jamaica  rum  and  hard 
cider,  and 

'Where  dozed  a  fire  of  beechen  logs  that  bred 
Strange  fancies  in  its  embers  golden-red. 
And  nursed  the  loggerhead,  whose  hissing  dip 
Timed  by  nice  instinct,  creamed  the  bowl  of 
flip.'  " 

The  story  of  this  writer  of  New  England's 
by-gone  customs  is  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses— except  the  one  item  of  meals,  wherein 
she  makes  the  farmer  carry  his  own,  while 
the  Baird  tavern  servants  testified  to  their 
being  served  by  the  house — is  the  story  of 
Blandford's  farmers  and  Blandford's  taverns 
a  hundred  and  more  years  agone.  The  men 
did  not  always  go  in  caravans,  however,  as 
the  story  of  John  Noble's  encounter  with 
wolves  testifies,  but  the  expediency  of  doing 
so  is  by  this  story  well  illustrated. 

When  the  traveler  had  got  himself  com- 
fortably housed  in  this  tavern  of  James  Baird, 

311 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

no  doubt  he  told  stories  and  cracked  jokes 
and  drank  flip  and  rum.  He  had  other 
questionable  employments  besides  the  last 
named.  The  bar  was  in  one  corner  of  the 
southeast  room,  the  floor  of  which  was  laid 
in  hard  maple,  one  and  a  quarter  inches  thick. 
The  premises  themselves  have  told  the  story, 
for  the  floor  of  this  tap-room  had  to  be  re-laid 
by  one  of  the  elder  Bartholomews  shortly  after 
the  purchase,  so  worn  had  it  become,  es- 
pecially at  the  corners  which  were  scooped 
out  like  saucers  by  the  guests  pitching  coins. 
It  was  worn,  in  fact,  to  holes,  for  under- 
neath, when  the  work  of  repair  was  done, 
several  silver  coins  of  various  denominations 
were  picked  up,  including  a  Spanish  milled 
dollar,  of  date  1806,  bearing  the  legend, 
"CAROLUS  III.  DEI  GRATII  REX  HIS- 
PANIA  ET  IND." 

The  general  trading  centre  for  the  people 
was  Hartford,  though  something  also  was 
done  in  Westfield,  possibly  in  Springfield. 
Connecticut,  however,  always  appealed  to 
the  early  resident  of  Blandford,  and  Hartford 
was  the  great  trading  mart.  In  his  inimita- 
ble way  Dr.  Daniel  Butler  thus  tells  of  a  visit 

312 


o  a 
o  z 


o< 


STAGE-COACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

from  his  Beech  hill  home  to  that  cit}''.  This 
was  not,  indeed,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  trad- 
ing, nor  was  it  in  winter.  But  it  has  this 
unique  advantage,  that  it  is  a  description  of 
the  trip  with  the  memory  of  childhood's 
enthusiasm  and  imagination. 

"The  journey  we  occasionally  made  from 
Blandford  in  my  childhood  will  never  be 
forgotten.  Old  Jack  was  brought  from  the 
pasture  the  day  before,  and  trimmed,  curried 
and  fed — the  wagon  greased  and  all  due 
preparation  made  for  the  journey.  From 
the  moment  of  leaving  till  we  returned,  I 
was  in  a  world  of  romance — the  first  object 
that  attracted  my  attention  was  Squire 
Stowe's  two-storied  white  house — four  miles 
from  home.  White  houses  were  rare  in  those 
days,  and  two  stories  seldom  indulged  in  on 
the  Hill.  East  Granville  dazzled  my  sight 
with  its  two  stores,  church,  hotel,  and  es- 
pecially its  Doves  and  Martins,  giving  evi- 
dence that  we  had  reached  a  higher  civiliza- 
tion. From  that  point  the  extreme  and 
beautiful  view  to  the  east  afforded  a  fore- 
taste of  the  wonders  to  be  witnessed  that 
day.     Every  man  we  met  to  my  imagination 

313 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

belonged  to  an  elevated  order  of  beings. 
The  meadows  and  streams  were  surpassingly 
beautiful — the  last  populous  with  trout.  At 
Case's  tavern*  fourteen  miles  from  home  we 
halted  to  feed  and  rest  the  horse.  Here  was 
a  peacock,  the  first  we  had  ever  seen,  and 
Guinea  fowls  discoursed  wonderful  music  in 
an  orchard  bending  with  fruit  fairer  than 
that  of  the  Hesperides.  Salmon  Brook  and 
the  Farmington  river  and  the  meadows 
through  which  they  flowed  added  to  the 
wonders  of  the  day.  At  Griswold's  Mills, 
now  Tariff ville,  we  crossed  the  Farmington 
and  passed  over  a  spur  of  Talcott  mountain, 
and  the  really  beautiful  prospect  afforded  us 
seemed  to  have  its  parallel  only  on  that 
mountain  from  whence  the  great  Lawgiver 
looked  upon  Canaan.  Descending  from  this 
height  we  halted  again  at  Benton's  tavcrn,t 
refreshing  Jack  with  the  liberal  quantity  of 
two  quarts  of  oats,  and  ourselves  with  a  glass 
of  sling — this  was  before  the  days  of  temper- 
ance. Thence  for  the  space  of  five  miles  we 
rode  over  wide  sand  plains  without  fences, 
where  fields  of  corn  and  rye  pressed  closely 

♦  In  North  Granby. 

t  At  Spoonville,  called  now  North  Bloomfield. 

314 


STAGE-COACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

upon  our  path  and  stretched  out  like  a  sea 
on  every  side.  Soon  after  leaving  the  plain 
the  indications  of  our  approach  to  the  city* 
began  to  increase.  White  palings  began  to 
appear  about  the  house  and  wagons  were  met 
oftener.  Three  miles  out  of  the  city  the 
spires  of  three  out  of  the  four  churches — 
(the  Episcopal,  North  and  South  Congrega- 
tional) came  into  view,  and  the  rest  of  the 
ride  was  through  a  fairy  land.  We  went 
quite  through  the  town  and  over  the  little 
bridge  out  to  Uncle  Wells  where  a  hospitable 
welcome  always  awaited  us.  Here  every- 
thing was  new  and  wonderful, — the  barn  had 
a  fragrance  not  imparted  by  mountain  hay, 
and  everything  in  and  around  the  house  had 
a  glory  all  its  own."  This  was  in  the  main 
the  same  road  as  that  traversed  by  the 
caravans  of  traders  who  stopped  over  night 
at  Beard's,  forty  double  teams  in  a  night, 
for  these  all,  so  far  as  the  city  of  Hartford 
may  have  been  their  destination,  had  to  go 
by  way  of  Beech  hill,  past  Daniel  Butler's 
house,  after  having  traversed  North  meadow 
and  over  what  was  then  known  as  the  Step 

*At  West  Hartford. 

315 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

hill  road  and  past  the  little  tavern  once 
carried  on  by  John  Lloyd. 

It  is  too  bad  that  no  note  or  tradition  of 
any  kind  has  survived  the  lapse  of  years  to 
tell  of  the  shows  and  vaudevilles  which-  in- 
variably chose  the  tavern  for  their  operation. 
Such  a  house  as  Baird's  must  have  seen  many 
an  exhibition  of  bear-dancing,  minstrel  or 
playwright.  The  memor}^  of  these  has  gone 
and  left  not  a  rack  behind.  But  the  vision 
of  boys  and  girls,  little  and  big,  enjoying  life 
with  an  added  intensity  for  a  brief  moment, 
as  these  shows  came  and  quickly  vanished, 
requires  the  inspiration  of  no  very  rare  fancy. 

The  busy  days  are  gone  from  the  old 
caravansary  where  Jerod  Cables  and  Duty 
Underwood  did  long  service.  Its  tall  lilacs, 
twisted  and  toughened  by  the  storms  of 
nearly  a  century,  and  high  as  the  eaves  of 
the  house,  gave  it — until  its  new  coat  of 
paint  was  just  laid  on — a  somnolent  and 
reverent  aspect  of  retrospection.  The  old 
chimney,  solid  and  commodious,  has  looked 
down  on  the  children  passing  to  and  fro  these 
many  years  between  their  homes  and  school, 
as   if   to   smile   a   silent   and   unappreciated 

316 


STAGE-COACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

blessing  for  the  newer  times  when  life  is  so 
changed  in  its  outward  aspect  yet  so  like  in 
its  abiding  essentials.  No  smoke  now  issues 
forth  of  a  winter  night  to  speak  of  cheer  and 
temptation  within,  for  it  has  become  trans- 
formed into  a  bright  and  inviting  summer 
home  for  dwellers  in  the  town.  The  old 
volume  is  closed ;  a  new  one  has  begun. 

In  1859,  some  years  after  the  pristine  glory 
of  the  stage-coach  had  departed,  but  when 
many  a  man  who  had  made  it  the  institution 
it  had  been  was  still  in  the  flesh,  a  convention 
was  held  in  Springfield  which  the  Springfield 
Republican  in  its  report  called  "The  Gathering 
of  Old  Whips."  Watson  E.  Boise  of  Bland- 
ford  was  there,  having  with  him  a  contract 
from  Postmaster-General  Granger,  bearing 
date  of  1806,  a  document  which  was  issued 
to  his  father,  Enos  Boise,  who  for  twenty- 
two  years  held  the  contract  for  carrying  the 
mails  between  Hartford  and  Stockbridge. 

"Enos  Boise,  grandfather  of  Enos  Watson 
Boise,  the  present  town  clerk  of  Blandford, 
began  in  the  staging  business  about  1800, 
and  but  12  years  were  lacking  to  round  out 
a  century  when  his  grandson  finished  out  the 

317 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

pending  contracts  which  remained  when 
Watson  E.  Boise,  son  of  the  elder  Enos,  died 
in  1892,  after  following  stage-coaching  almost 
70  years.  Old  Enos  Boise  began  to  drive 
coach  when  he  was  about  24.  Six  years 
later,  in  1806,  Mr.  Boise  made  his  first  con- 
tract with  the  government  to  carry  mails. 
This  first  contract  was  for  the  old  Hartford 
route,  which  went  from  Stockbridge,  through 
Blandford  to  Granville,  Granby,  Simsbury 
and  Hartford.  Watson  Boise,  son  of  Enos, 
was  bom  in  1808  and  was  literally  brought 
up  in  the  business.  He  drove  stage  as  soon 
as  he  was  old  enough,  and  when  he  was  21 
his  father  gave  him  the  old  Hartford  route, 
and  he  continued  it  until  it  was  given  up. 

"The  high  water  mark  in  the  coaching 
days  came  under  Watson  Boise,  and  at  one 
time  he  was  interested  in  some  40  routes  in 
Western  Massachusetts,  out  of  New  Haven 
and  Hartford  and  some  in  western  Connecti- 
cut. He  was  one  of  the  best  known  men 
following  the  picturesque  calling  and  was 
familiar  with  most  of  the  men  at  'the  gather- 
ing of  old  whips.'  He  had  been  in  partner- 
ship with  many  men  in  the  various  lines  in 

318 


STAGE-COACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

which  he  was  interested.  Chester  W.  Chapin 
was  one  of  his  partners,  and  he  had  also  been 
in  business  with  Lewis  Chapman.  A  party 
to  so  many  contracts  with  the  government 
went  occasionally  to  Washington.  When 
there  on  one  of  these  trips,  somewhere  about 
1870,  one  of  the  assistant  postmasters-gen- 
eral told  him  that  he  had  been  in  the  govern- 
ment mail  service  a  longer  continuous  period 
than  any  other  man  living.  For  20  years 
longer  he  remained  in  the  service,  so  one 
might  readily  believe  that  at  the  time  of  his 
death  his  record  was  even  more  distinctive, 
although  whether  or  not  it  has  ever  been 
equaled  cannot  now  be  said."* 

That  Watson  Boise  knew  something  of 
"high  water  mark,"  is  confirmed  by  a  story 
of  him  at  the  time  of  a  great  flood.  He  had 
reached  Little  river  on  his  return  trip  from 
Hartford,  where  he  was  told  by  the  neighbors 
that  the  bridge  was  gone,  and  he  could 
not  get  across.  He  had  two  powerful  horses, 
and  he  himself  was  no  tenderfoot.  A  detour 
meant  going  round  by  North  Blandford, 
eight  or  ten  miles  farther,  and  this  was  en- 

*  Quoted  from  an  article  in  the  Springfield  Republican  of  March  8,  1908. 

319 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

tirely  unattractive  to  him.  He  had  the  mail 
and  two  lady  passengers.  He  offered  the 
ladies  the  choice  of  being  left  behind  with 
some  of  the  neighbors,  or,  if  they  had  the 
courage,  to  ford  the  river  with  him.  In  vain 
the  gathered  bystanders  tried  to  dissuade  him 
from  the  perilous  task.  They  told  him  it 
could  not  be  done.  He  thought  it  could. 
The  two  ladies  were  loath  to  be  left  behind 
also,  so  they  all  essayed  to  cross.  Deeper 
and  deeper  into  the  raging  waters  he  went, 
until  the  horses  were  covered  except  their 
heads,  and  the  driver  was  holding  the  lines 
aloft,  while  the  ladies  were  appealing  to  him 
to  return,  for  they  did  not  want  to  drown 
"with  all  those  people  looking  on,"  as  though 
a  greater  seclusion  might  have  reconciled 
them  to  a  fate  which  the  mail  carrier  for  his 
part  had  no  idea  of  meeting  just  then  whether 
alone  or  in  company.  He  got  himself  and  his 
precious  freight  safely  across.  How  the  mail 
fared  the  story  does  not  relate,  but  Mr.  Boise 
could  be  trusted  with  the  service  under  any 
conditions. 

A  contract  between  the  Government  and 
Enos  Boise  in  1820  marks  out  this  route  and 

320 


'County  Road  from  James  Beard's  to  Barringtox  Road  " 
Toward  Hartford 


STAGE-COACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

itinerary :  ' '  from  Hartford  Ct  by  Wintonbury 
Simsbury    Granby    Granville    Middle    Gran- 
ville Blandford  Fallys  X  Roads  Chester  and 
Middlefield    to    Hinsdale    once    a    week    and 
back   at   the   rate   of   sixty   eight   dollars   & 
seventy  five  cents  for  every  quarter  of  a  year." 
"Leave  Hartford  every  Tuesday  at  2  PM 
Arrive  at  Granville  Thursday  by  1  PM  & 
Arrive  at  Hinsdale  on  Thursday  by  6  PM 
Leave  Hinsdale  every  Friday  at  6  AM  and 
Arrive  at  Hartford  on  Tuesday  by  9  AM" 

A  later  contract  with  Watson  E.  Boise,  of 
date  1832,  is  more  detailed  and  throws  some 
light  on  the  manner  of  carrying  the  mails  and 
the  comparative  importance  of  the  several 
posts  along  the  route.  This  contract  in- 
cludes "newspaper  privilege,"  a  little  note  of 
the  widening  reading  habits  of  the  people. 
The  contract  reads,  in  part: 

"  1 .  To  carry  the  mail  of  the  United  States, 
from  (No.  359)  Hartford  Ct.  by  Wintonbury 
Tariff ville,  Granby,  North  Granby,  and  East 
Granville  Ms.  Blandford,  Fally's  4  Roads, 
Chester,  Middkfield  &  Washington  To  Hins- 
dale &  back  once  a  week  in  stages  between 
Hartford  and  Blandford  &  in  a  sulky  between 
Blandford  &  Hinsdale,  No.  437  From  Hart- 
ford   Ct.    by    Wintonbury,    Simsbury,    West 

321 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

Granby,  &  Hartford,  to  Middle  Granville  Ms. 
&  back  twice  a  week  in  stages  at  the  rate  of 
One  hundred  and  forty  dollars  for  every 
quarter  of  a  year."     This  was  the  itinerary: 

"No.  359. 
"Leave  Hartford  every  Wednesday 

Arrive  at  Blandford  Same  day 
Leave  Blandford  every  Thursday 

Arrive  at  Hinsdale  Same  day 
Leave  Hinsdale  every  Friday 

Arrive  at  Blandford  Same  day 
Leave  Blandford  every  Tuesday 

Arrive  at  Hartford  Same  day 
No.  437 
Leave  Hartford  Tuesday  &  Saturday 

Arrive  at  Middle  Granville  Same  days 
Leave  Middle  Granville  every  Monday  & 
Friday 

Arrive  at  Hartford  Same  days 

The  earlier  contract,  and,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  some  verbal  changes,  the  later  one 
also,  contained  this  item:  "9.  That  when 
the  said  mail  goes  by  a  stage  wagon,  it  shall 
invariably  be  carried  within  the  body  of  a 
comfortable  stage,  or  in  a  secure  and  dry 
boot  under  the  driver's  feet,  suitable  for  the 
accommodation  of  at  least  seven  travellers, 
under  a  penalty  of  twenty  dollars  for  each 

322 


at 

6  A. 

M. 

by 

4  P. 

M. 

at 

6  A. 

M. 

by 

6  P. 

M. 

at 

6  A. 

M. 

by 

5  P. 

M. 

at 

6  A. 

M. 

by 

4  P. 

M. 

at 

6  A. 

M. 

at 

2  P. 

M. 

at 

10  A. 

M. 

by 

5  P. 

M. 

STAGECOACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

offence;  and  when  it  is  carried  on  horseback, 
or  vehicle,  other  than  a  stage,  it  shall  be 
covered  securely,  with  an  oilcloth  or  bear- 
skin, against  rain  or  snow,  under  a  penalty 
of  twenty  dollars  for  each  time  the  mail  is 
wet,  without  such  covering;  and  when  it 
stops  at  night,  it  shall  be  put  in  a  secure  place, 
and  there  be  locked  up,  at  the  contractor's 
risque." 

The  name  and  something  of  the  history 
of  Levi  Pease  have  already  entered  as  a 
component  part  of  the  chapter  on  the  Corner 
tavern.  In  connection  with  our  present  story 
the  following  narrative  is  .of  interest:*  "The 
first  stage  and  mail  route  in  New  England 
and  probably  the  first  in  the  country  began 
operation  100  years  ago  yesterday.  Capt. 
Levi  Pease  of  Somers,  Ct.,  and  Reuben 
Sikes  of  Sufheld,  both  blacksmiths,  had  pre- 
viously run  a  passenger  conveyance  between 
Somers  and  Hartford,  a  distance  of  20  miles, 
and  from  this  small  beginning  conceived  a 
scheme  of  establishing  a  regular  passenger 
and  post  route  between  Hartford  and  Boston. 
Sikes   was   some   years   younger   than   Pease 

*  Taken  from  the  Springfield  Republican  as  already  quoted,  itself  a  clipping 
from  an  earlier  number  bearing  date  of  October  21,  1883. 

323 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

and  his  father  stoutly  opposed  the  enter- 
prise, telhng  his  son  that  Pease  was  enticing 
him  into  a  ruinous  scheme  that  would  soon 
lodge  them  both  in  jail  as  poor  debtors.  But 
young  Sikes  was  not  to  be  frightened,  nor  did 
the  failure  of  an  effort  to  start  a  similar  line 
the  year  before  between  Worcester  and  Bos- 
ton deter  him  from  joining  forces  with  the 
dauntless  captain.  Two  convenient  wagons 
were  secured,  and  on  October  20,  1783,  at 
6  o'clock  in  the  morning  the}^  left  Boston 
and  Hartford  respectively.  Capt.  Pease  drove 
the  western-bound  stage  starting  from  'the 
Sign  of  the  Lamb,'  stopped  over  night  at 
Martin's  in  Northboro,  passing  through 
Worcester  the  next  day  and  resting  at  Rice's 
in  Brookfield.  His  route  the  third  day  took 
him  through  Palmer,  and  perhaps  Wil- 
braham,  to  his  home  in  Somers,  and  on  the 
fourth  day  Hartford  was  reached.  This  route 
was  followed  through  the  winter  and  early 
spring,  but  in  May,  1784,  Springfield  was  made 
a  station  and  the  river  was  crossed  either 
here  or  at  Enfield.  .  .  .  The  fare  at  this 
time  was  'four  pence  per  mile,'  or  about  $10 


324 


Watson  E.  Boise 
(Courtesy  of  Springfield  Republican) 


STAGE-COACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

for  the  trip  from  Boston  to  Hartford."* 
At  last  came  the  railroad.  No  landlord, 
stage  driver  or  sage  had  vision  of  the  fateful 
meaning  of  steam  travel  for  the  ancient  town 
of  the  hills,  or  for  society,  whether  of  city  or 
country.  "Come,  boys,  the  railroad  is  going 
through:  let's  go  to  work  and  raise  potatoes." 
So  said  a  father  of  dissipated  habits  and 
impoverished  home  to  his  strapping  sons. 
He  thereupon  promised  them  that  if  they 
would  work  with  him  he  would  stop  drink- 
ing, and  they  would  soon  be  rich.  He  was 
as  good  as  his  word,  and  th3y  cleared  $1,000 
a  year  from  the  potatoes  sold  to  the  workm2n 
along  the  line  of  the  road. 

The  town  was  already  at  the  parting  of  the 
ways  when,  in  the  early  century,  "New 
Connecticut"  loomd  big  on  New  England's 
horizon,  and  N  w  York,  Pennsylvania  and 
the  Northwest  Territory  were  claiming  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  New  England  hills 
by  twos  and  threes,  by  families  and  colonies, 
when  Rev.  Joseph  Badger  went  out  to  pioneer 
a  path  for  the   Western  civilization,   taking 

*  Further  details  of  the  enterprising  career  of  Capt.  Levi  Pease,  including 
mention  of  his  residence  in  Blandford  "for  six  years  before  the  war,  ' 
are  given  in  the  article  quoted.  Reference  may  also  he  had  tc  the 
book  already  referred  to  in  the  chapter  on  the  Corner  Tavern,  q.  v. 

325 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

his  family  and  effects  in  a  big  canvas- cove  red 
wagon,  when  the  Scioto  company  went  and 
numberless  others  from  Blandford  and  all 
New  England.  But  when  at  last  the  railroad 
came,  then  began  to  come  the  grassing  over 
of  the  ways  and  the  settling  down  to  a  new 
regime.  Not  all  at  once,  to  be  sure,  but 
with  the  resistless  movement  of  the  decades. 
It  spelled  "West"  to  many  a  lad  and  lass  and 
many  a  hitherto  established  famil}^  whom 
the  prairie  schooner  had  failed  to  attract. 
It  also  spelled  "City"  whether  West  or  East, 
until  now  the  hilltop  is  once  more,  for  a  brief 
annual  season  at  least,  the  refuge  of  throngs 
wearied  and  distraught  by  the  feverish  stress 
of  urban  life. 

The  people  of  Blandford  generally  believed 
in  the  railroad,  as  a  favorable  resolution 
passed  in  town  meeting  bears  witness.  But 
the  favoring  sentiment  was  not  unanimous. 
Down  at  Chester  Factories  the  road  was 
building,  and  the  enterpise  proceeded  not 
without  the  onlooking  of  many  curious  visit- 
ors, among  them  the  lad  of  the  old  Beard 
tavern,  who  used  to  have  his  daily  ride  on 
the  stage.     When  he  returned  home  again, 

326 


STAGE-COACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

he  found  an  intelligent  old  gentleman  at  his 
father's  house,  who  listened  attentively  to 
the  young  man's  description  of  what  he  had 
seen,  to  all  of  which  the  old  gentleman  re- 
plied, "Well,  my  bo}-,  the  building  of  that 
road  is  a  visionary  idea;  if  they  ever  get  it 
done,  it  will  make  a  beautiful  thoroughfare 
from  Boston  to  Albany,  but  you  will  never  see 
the  day  when  vehicles  will  be  drawn  by  any 
other  power  than  horses  or  cattle."  To-day 
the  sub-marine  and  the  fl3^ing  machine  are 
less  of  a  novelty  than  the  railroad  was  to  our 
forbears. 

When  at  last  the  road  invited  the  patronage 
of  the  countryside,  this  same  young  man  of 
the  old  tavern  was  among  the  first  to  try  its 
merits.  This  is  his  story:  "The  cars  were 
like  the  old  stage-coach,  with  doors  on  both 
sides,  and  three  seats  in  each  car,  each  seat 
accommodating  three  persons.  The  con- 
ductor did  not  enter  the  car  to  collect  tickets, 
but  came  on  a  rod  of  iron  that  ran  the  length 
of  the  car  below  the  door;  holding  on  to 
another  rod  above,  he  let  down  the  window 
in  the  door  to  take  up  the  tickets.  The 
wheels  of  the  cars  ran  on  timbers  laid  length- 

327 


TAVERNS  AND  TURNPIKES 

wise  of  the  railroad.  On  these  were  spiked 
bars  of  iron.  Twice  the  train  was  stopped, 
and  on  looking  out  of  the  car  the  conductor 
and  trainmen  were  to  be  seen  ahead  of  the 
train,  spiking  down  what  the}^  called  snake- 
heads.  The  train  ran  about  fifteen  miles  an 
hour." 

The  old  has  been  rung  out;  the  new  has 
been  rung  in.  There  is  progress  not  alone 
in  railroading  and  in  the  arts  of  entertainment 
and  business.  These  have  been  and  are  but 
the  vehicles  of  humors  and  passions,  of  loves 
and  hates,  of  ideals  and  struggles,  of  faiths  or 
wrecks  of  faith  of  the  serge  of  human  life  with 
its  inner  realities.  Something  not  to  be  run 
in  material  moulds  has  come  forth.  The 
story  of  the  old  is  not  all  entertainment,  not 
all  memory,  not  all  dead  past.  The  page  is 
turned  over,  if  by  a  real  man,  not  without 
meditation  and  soberness. 

"Long  ago  at  the  end  of  its  route, 
The  stage  pulled  up  and  the  folks  stepped  out. 
They  have  all  passed  under  the  tavern  door, 
The  youth  and  his  bride  and  the  gray  three- 
score. 
Theireyes  were  weary  with  the  dust  and  gleam; 

328 


Little  River 


STAGE-COACH  AND  WAYSIDE  INN 

The  day  had  gone  Hke  an  empty  dream. 
Soft  may  they  slumber,  and  trouble  no  more 
For  their  eager  journey,  its  jolt  and  roar. 
On  the  old  road  over  the  mountain."* 

*  Quoted  by  Edward  Field,  in  The  Colonial  Tavern. 


329 


Appendix  I 

LIST    OF    LICENSEES 

THE  following  list  is  copied  from  the   record  of 
the  Court  of  General  Sessions  ot  old  Hampshire 
County,  Northampton,  Mass.: 

In  all  the  earlier  years  of  this  record  the  names  of 
licensees  are  given  without  order  or  tabulation  in  the 
midst  of  other  material.  It  is  not  easy  picking  them 
out,  and  absolute  perfectness  is  not  claimed  for  this 
copy.  Other  peculiarities  connected  with  the  listing 
of  those  licensed  are  commented  on  in  the  text. 

Inn . — Innholder . 
Ret. — Retailer. 

An  innholder's  license  is  to  he  understood  where  no 
special  indication  is  given. 

1.  Joseph  Pixley,  Jr.,  summer  or  fall  of  1733. 
"Joseph  Pixley,  Jun''  Living  on  M''  Ch''  Jacob 
Lawton  Land  between  Westfield  and  Sheffield  to 
be  an  Inholder  Taverner  &  Common  Victualer 
at  s'^  Place  is  by  this  Court  admitted  and  ap- 
proved as  a  Suitable  Person  agreeable  to  the  order 
of  the  Gen^  Court  Respecting  the  Same — "  He 
came  from  "Upper  Houseatunnick,"  or  Great 
Barrington. 

2.  Robert  Huston  of  Glascow.  Ausgust,  1736,  1739, 
1740. 

Robert  Hewson  of  Glascow.     August,  1737. 
Robert  Huston  of  Glasko.     August,  1738. 

3.  John  Huston  of  Blandford.     August,   1740. 
"License  is  Granted  to  John  Huston  of  Blandford 


To  be  an  Inholder  Tavemer  &  Common  Victualler 
in  s'^  Town  for  the  Year  Ensuing  for  Selling  Strong 
Drink  by  Retail  &  Recognized  as  the  Law  Directs 
for  keeping  Good  Rule  and  Order  and  Duly 
paying  the  Excise:  As  p''  Recognizance  on 
file."  1741. 

4.  Armour  Hamilton — "exercising  his  License  only 
in  the  House  where  he  now  dwells."     1742-1749 

5.  Agnes  Hamilton.      1749-1751.    Widow  of  Armour. 

6.  Matthew  Barber — "in  his  house."     1742. 

7.  William  Huston.     1752-1755 — "in  his  house." 

8.  Hewet  Root.     1756-1758 — "in  his  house." 

9.  John  Nox.     1757 — "in  his  house." 

John  Knox.     1758-1771.     Ret.,  1772,  1773. 

10.  Nathanael  Pease — "in  y^  House  Where  he  now 
dwells."  1759-1769.  At  least  a  part  of  the 
time  he  was  also  retailer  and  common  victualer. 

11.  Samuel  Stewart — "in  Y  House  Where  he  now 
dwells." 

12.  Matthew  Blair.  Ret.,  1760-1762— "out  of  his 
dwelling  house  there  to  be  spent  out  of  Doors." 

13.  Joseph  Clark — "in  his  house  there."      1761,  1762. 

14.  William  Camahan.     Ret.,  1763,  1765-1767. 

15.  Ephraim  Gibbs.     Ret.,  1768-1773. 

16.  Nathaniel  Taggart.     1769-1773. 

17.  Levi  Pease.     1771-1773. 

18.  Samuel  Sloper.  Ret.,  1778,  1781;  Inn.,  1784; 
Ret.,  1787. 

19.  D"  William  Boies.  1779,  1780;  William  Boyce, 
1781. 

William  Boies.     Ret.,   1783. 

20.  Warham  Parks.  Ret.  1779,  1780,  1783.  War- 
ham  Parks,  Esq.,  1781. 


21.  Justus  Ashmun.  1778,  1781-1784-1797.  He 
probably  had  a  continuous  license. 

22.  Tim^  Hatch.  1781-1784;  Ret.,  1788,  1790;  Inn., 
1793-1800.     cf.  No.  23. 

23.  David  Herren,  1781;  Timothy  Hatch  and  David 
Herren,  1782;   1783    (Herren  alone)  . 

24.  Reuben  Boyes.     1781,  1784. 

25.  James  Moore.     1782. 

26.  Jonas  Henry.     1782-1785. 

27.  Samuel  Boies.     Ret.,  1782;  Inn.,  1783-1785. 

28.  Samuel  Boies,  or  Samuel  Boies  2nd,  the  two 
names  being  apparently  used  indiscriminately, 
1787,  1788;  1790,  1791;  1794-1809;  1813-1815. 
Probably  a  continuous  license. 

29.  Roger  Parks.  Ret.,  1783 — "to  be  a  Retailer  of 
Spirituous  Liquors  out  of  his  House  there  to  be 
spent  out  of  Doors  only." 

30.  Isaac  Blair.     Ret.,  1783-1785. 

31.  Robert  Montgomery.     Ret.,  1783-1785. 

32.  Elisha  Buck  Sheldon.      1783. 

33.  James  Baird  Jun^     1784. 

34.  James  Baird.     1788-1801.     Ret.,  1800,  1801. 

35.  Robert  Blair  Jun^     1784,  1785,  1790-1793. 

36.  Robert  Blair.  1787.  Robert  Blair  by  Sam" 
Boies  2'^  1788. 

37.  John  Watson.     Ret.,  1784,  1785. 

38.  James  Wallis.     Ret.,  1784. 

39.  William  Knox.     Ret.,  1784,  1785,  1787. 

40.  Sam"  Hopesby.     Ret.,  1785. 

41.  John  Gibbs.     Ret.,  1785,  1788. 

42.  Rufus  Blair.     Ret.,  1785.     Inn.,  1791-1794. 

43.  William  Thompson  by  Rufus  Blair.     Ret.,  1785. 

44.  Ebenezer  Bruce.     1788,  1790,  1791,  1793. 


45.  William  Hannon.     Ret.,  1788. 

46.  James  Sinnet.     Ret.,  1788. 

47.  John  &  Russel  Atwater.     Ret.,  1788. 

48.  Russel  Atwater.     Ret.,  1790-1794,  1798. 

49.  Abner  Pease.     1793-1799. 

50.  William  Stewart.     Ret.,  1793. 

51.  Jesse  Bruce.      1794. 

52.  Sam' Porter,  bbD.     1795-1797. 

53.  Russel  Watkins.      1796. 

54.  Gad  Stebbins.     1797. 

55.  Noah  Shepard,  bb.     Ret.,  1797. 

56.  John  S.  Douglass.     1798. 

57.  Titus  Ashmun.     1798. 

58.  Eliphalet  Lamb.     1799. 

59.  Solomon  Noble.     1800,  1801,  1803-1807,  1809. 

60.  Henry  Wales.     Ret.,  1800. 

61.  Reuben  Ashmun.      1801-1804.     Ret.,  1802. 

62.  I.  W.  Knowlton.     Ret.,  1802. 

63.  Aaron  Fish.      1802. 

64.  Robert  Waterman.     Ret.,  1803-1806. 

65.  James  Hazard.     Ret.,  1804,  1805. 

66.  Paul  and  Barnabas  Whitney.     Ret.,  1804. 

67.  Paul  Whitney.     Ret.,  1805. 

68.  Moses  A.  Bunnell.     Ret.,  1804,  1805. 

69.  Keziah  Ashmun.     1805.     Widow  of  Justus. 

70.  Benjamin  Scott.     1806,  1807,  1809. 
7"l.  Joseph  Bull.     Ret.,  1806-1808. 

72.  Job  Almy.     Ret.,  1807-1809,  1811;  Inn.,  1812- 
1826. 

73.  John  Lloyd.     1808-1811. 

74.  Isaac  Harding.     1810. 

75.  Margaret    Scott.     1810.     Widow    of    Benjamin 
Scott. 


76.  Eli  Hall.     Ret.,  1810,  ISll.     Physician. 
77    Amos  M   Collins.     Ret..  1810-1817. 

78.  Sam'  Blair.     Ret.,  1810. 

79.  Joseph  Eells.   Ret.,  1810,  1811. 

80.  Eleazer  Slocumb.      1811. 

81.  Jedediah  Smith.     Ret.,  1811. 

82.  Oren  Sage.  Ret.,  1811-1833,  except  1825  and 
1828. 

1833,  Retailer  of  wines — no  duty. 

83.  Luke  Hall.      1812. 

84.  Jabez  Goodell.     1813. 

85.  Asa  Smith.     1814,  1815. 

86.  Plin  Day.     1816. 

87.  Enos  Alvord.     1817. 

88.  Isaac  Lloyd.     1818. 

89.  Fordyce  Sylvester.     Ret.,  1818. 

90.  George  Bradley.      1820-1822. 

91.  Lyman  Gibbs.     Ret.,  1821-1824,  1826-1829,1833. 

92.  Luther  Laflin.  Ret.  1822-1824;  1828,  1829, 
1831-1833;  Inn.,  1826-1829;  1832— "at  his  now 
dwelling  house,"  1833 — "in  his  Store  situated 
near  his  Tavern." 

93.  SergiusW.  Lloyd.     1823. 

94.  Justin  Loomis.     1830,  1831. 

95.  Thomas  Bradley.     1832. 

96.  Linus  B.  Barnes.  1832,  Retailer  of  wine  at  the 
Store  of  Laflin  and  Barnes. 


Appendix  II 


LOCALDESIGNATWNS, NOT  OCCURRING 
IN  THE  TEXT,  OF  CERTAIN  MAIN  THOR- 
OUGHFARES OF  THE  TOWN,  WITH  AN 
ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  THE  TURNPIKES. 

These  designations  are  found  in  the  la3^-outs  of 
county  roads,  on  record  in  the  county  archives  at 
Northampton  or  Springfield,  or  in  local  deeds.  The 
date  appended  indicates  the  date  of  the  county 
lay-out,  or  of  the  deed,  as  the  case  may  be. 


Falls  road  to  West  Granville: 

Road    from  Blanford   meeting  House  to  Granville 
middle    Society. 


Direct  road  from  Blandford  village  to  East   Otis: 

High  Way  from  Blanford  Street  to  ye  Green  woods 
Road. 


Present — not  the  ancient — Gore  road: 

County  road,   1770. 

County  road  to  Greenwoods  road  at  Northwest 
corner  of  Walnut  hill,  1773.  Highway  from  Blan- 
ford Street  to  ye  Greenwoods  Road.  1773. 

The  county  road  leading  from  the  Street  west- 
ward,  1787. 

Gore   road,    1820. 


North    Street,  and  road  to  Becket: 

County   road   to    Becket. 

(Northerly  end  of  Street)  Road  from  Isaac  Gibbs 
to  Ephraim  Gibbs  commonly  called  Pittsfield  road 
1791. 


Road  from  Taggart  district  through  North  Blandford 
to  Otis  road,  and  thence  to  Beech  hill: 

County  road  from  Westerly  part  of  Blanford 
to  the  Northeasterly  part  of  Granville,  1791. 

County  road  from    Middlefield  to  Granville,  1828. 

(In  part)  County  road  from  James  Beard's  to 
Barrington  road.,  1808. 


Gibbs  road,  past  the  Uhl  estate,  from  Nigger  hill  road 
to  Jackson  hill: 

Road   from    County   road     near   the   pond    Called 
Long  pond,   1785. 


Road  from  East  Otis  to  Beach  hill,  past  the  Beech  hill 
school- house  etc.: 

County  road  from  Otis   to  Granville    East    parish 
by  the  house  of  Jedediah  Smith. 


Road  from  Blandford  over  Peebles  hill  and  Beech  hill: 
West  middle  road  from  Blanford  to  Granville,  1791. 


ADDITIONAL  NOTES  ON  THE  TURNPIKES 
gleaned  from  Holland's  "History  of  Western  Mass- 
achusetts," Vol.  I,  Chap.  XIX. 

The  Eleventh  Massachusetts  Turnpike  Corpo- 
ration's route  (1801)  Avas  as  follows:  "To  begin  at  the 
south  line  of  Massachusetts,  at  or  near  the  ending 
of  the  turnpike  road  lately  established  by  the  leg- 
islature of  the  State  of  Connecticut;  thence  into  and 
through  the  East  parish  of  Granville  to  Blandford 
meeting  house,  and  from  thence  through  the  town 
street  in  Blandford,  by  the  usual  Pittsfield  road,  so 
called,  and  into  the  town  of  Becket  by  the  same  road, 
until  it  connects  with  the  road  of  the  Eighth  Turn- 
pike Corporation."  This  latter  road  was  what  is 
now  known  as  the  state  road  from  "Westfield,  along  the 
the  river  to  Chester,  past  "Falley's  store"  of  a  century 
ago. 

The  Blandford  and  Russell  Turnpike  Corporation 
was  established  somewhat  later,  and  while  impor- 
tant as  opening  a  convenient  thoroughfare  to  the 
valley  towns,  and  to  the  railroad  when  that  came  in, 
had  no  tavern  history,  and  in  general  pursued  a 
career  so  ordinary  and  quiet  as  to  have  furnished 
little  or  nothing  for  the  historian  to  make  particular 
record  of. 


Appendix  III 


Certain  things  which  those  interested  would  very 
much  like  to  know  about  the  old  Housatonic  road 
and  Pixley's  tavern  are  provokingly  obscure.  Con- 
tinued study  of  the  matter  since  the  earlier  part  of 
the  book  was  printed  seems  pretty  certainly  to  yield 
these  results,  some  of  which  are  old,  and  some  new. 

(1 )  The  first  path,  or  road,  was  that  on  which 
Pixley's   tavern   was   located.     This   is   certain. 

(2 )  A  well  defined  and  uncontradicted  tradition 
locates  Pixley's  at,  or  close  by,  the  house  of  N.  C. 
Julien,  as  stated  in  chapter  I.  The  conjectural 
continuation  of  this  road  is  indicated  on  the  map. 

(3 )  The  original  log  tavern  never  fully  complied 
with  the  legislative  condition  laid  down  for  it. 

(4 )  In  1738  (see  page  1 1 ) ,  a  new  house  was  ordered 
on  a  new  location,  to  carry  on  the  tavern  business. 
This  new  house  was  "To  stand  near  the  new  Road 
at  the  North  end  of  the  granted  premises;"  that 
is,  at  the  north  end  of  the  farm.  The  traditional  site 
of  the  log  tavern  was  near  the  centre  of  the  farm. 
This  is  all  so  plain,  I  wonder  I  had  not  discovered 
it  before. 

(5)1  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  lay-out  of 
this  "new  road,"  but  beyond  a  doubt  the  present 
"Otis  road,"  coinciding  very  closely  with  the  "Shef- 
field road,"  indicated  by  the  dotted  line  of  the  map, 
from  Blair  pond  westward,  is  the  one  in  questiajj. 

(6)  This  road  last  mentioned  must  be,  in  general, 
with  possible  minor  variations,  that  referred  to  in 
the  county  lay-out  of  1754,    as  "ye  old  path."     The 


lapse  of  some  sixteen  years  would  be  enough  for  the 
"new"  to  become   "old".     See  page  91. 

(7 )  Now  this  road  passed  Carrier's,  that  gentle- 
man having  been  a  successor  of  Pixley.  The  house, 
then,  had  been  re-built  according  to  legislative 
order. 

(8)  Statements  on  page  93  are  correct,  except 
that  the  "new  road"  preceded  the  road  of  1754, 
instead  of  following  it,  and  the  dotted  line  did, 
after  all,  belong  in  the  early  plan.  Furthermore,  the 
description  of  the  commissioners  of  1754,  which  is 
vague  in  many  particulars,  comports  with  the  in- 
terpretation   here    given. 

(9)  This  road,  as  matter  of  fact,  cuts  athwart  the 
extreme  northerly  end  of  Pixley 's  farm,  which  was 
bought  by  Jonathan  Shepard  (see  page  93).  On 
this  road  and  farm  stands  the  house  referred  to  in 
pages  93  and  94.  It  is  very  ancient,  very  tavern- 
like and  large,  with  the  wide-spread  and  persistent 
tavern  tradition  connected  with  it.  Was  this  house 
Pixley 's  second  tavern  building?  I  incline  to 
believe  it. 


Index 


Abbreviations:     f.,  following  page,     flf.,  following  pages,    n.,  note 


Adams,  John,  29. 
Adultery,   196. 
Adventurer.    5,  18,  31. 
Albany,  16f  ,  34,  70,  75,  77,  95,  97, 
266,    289. 

road,  V.  Road. 
AUyn,  David,  159. 
Almanac,   15.  70,  233,  233. 
Almy,  Job,  136.  143,  145.  190f. 
Alvord.  Enos.  251. 
America.    112.    122. 
Amherst.  Gen..  75. 
Aristocracy.  Chaps  V.  and  VI:,  304. 
Aristophanes,   243. 
Armory  hill.   267. 
Army.   13,  34.  75.  78f  .   117. 
Army  life.   122. 
Ashley.  Wm..   154.   173. 
Ashmun,  Eli  P..  35.  53ff..  156,  160, 
189,   194,   197ff.,  203 

George,    34,    57f. 

John    Hooker,    57f. 

Justus.     33fT..    Chap.    V;     100. 
148.  166,  176.  184.  244f  ,  272. 

Keziah.     (Widow)     54. 

Reuben.  60. 

Titus,  60n. 

Widow  V.  Keziah. 
Ashmun's,    100,  215. 
Assault,  193fl. 
Atkins,  Mr.    48. 

Attwater,  Russell,  38,  S3,  149,   154, 
164ff,     169n,     173.     176,     193. 
231,     244. 
Automobile  club,   17,  278. 

B 
Babcock.    James,    142. 
Bacon.   Dr.   Leonard.    121. 
Bacons.  John.  196. 
Badger.  Rev.  Joseph,  38.  122,  143f, 
158,  287,  305,  325. 

Mrs.     245. 
Baggwell,  138. 
Bau-d,  Beard.   138. 

Aaron,   244. 

James,    138,   287.   298. 

confession   of.    305f 

James.    Jr.,     138,    224n.,    298n., 
304fiF. 

John.  224n., 
Baird  lot.   138.   142. 

tavern.  129,  196,  297,  303,  306ff., 
326. 
Ball,    161  f. 
Balow,  Jas.,  195. 


Bancroft.  Rhodolphus,  205f. 
Bancrofts,  the,  206. 
Barber.  Matt..  251. 
Barkhampstead,    95. 
Barnard,  Thomas,  200. 
Barnes.  Linus  B..  174 
Barthomomew.    Samuel    A  .    297ff., 
307ff. 

house.    196. 
Bartholomews,    the,    307ff. 
Bay  path.  13. 
Beach.  Samuel,  159. 
Beard,    v.    Baird. 

Becket.  IS,  32.  82.  95,  98,  221,  301. 
Beech  hill.  47,  55,  62.  181.  chap. VII; 

217.  235.  247.  251,  313,  315. 
Bement,  Judah,   32,    167,    169,   220. 
Bements,  the.  169. 
Bennett,  E.  W.    69n. 
Berkshire,  35.   263. 

county,   22.   56.    79. 

hills,    279. 

towns,   304. 
Bethlehem.  95. 
Beulah-land.    99. 
Bill  of  rights,  143. 
Birch  hill.  47,  69,  83,  133,  249,  252, 

279. 
Bishop.  M.  E.,  209. 
Black,  Archibald,  231. 

David,   99. 

Hugh,    180. 

Robert,  99f..  104. 
Blacksmith.    169ff.,    197.    212.    253. 
293.  323. 

V.  innholder. 

shop.    152.   217. 
Blair.  Blier, 

Asa,   117,   159. 

Dolly,    141. 

Isaac,  271. 

Jacob  271. 

John,  3rd,  197f. 

Matt.,    103f  .    128,    142,    163,   271. 

Matt.,  Jr.,  104. 

Dr.  Nathan,   144.   191,  200f. 

Reuben.    117.   201. 

Robert,  128,  162f..  167,  245,  271. 

Jr  ,  163ff. 

Sr.,    163f. 

2nd.  163. 

3rd.    163. 

4th.    163,    165. 

Rufus,      141,    167f. 

Samuel,   14  If. 

Timothy,  272 


Blair  homestead,  105. 

Bl^&^l'the'lOS.  129.  166.  170.  184. 

231,  271. 
Blandfo'rd  Monthly,  265n. 
Blockhouse,  10.  . 

Boies,  Boys,  Boyce,  Boise. 
Anson,    197. 

ES'l2i'l30,190.240. 
Elizabeth,    139. 
Enos,  Sr..  317{. 
Enos  W.,  149n.,  317. 
John    26n.,    71ff..    US,    163,    276, 
277. 

John,  Jr.,  72. 

farm  of,   151,    154. 

house  of,  152. 

Landlord,    134. 

Levi,  287. 

Milton,  64.  --- 

Reuben,  39,  86,  88,  90,   117,  222, 
244f. 

LluV3t39.123.130.137,142, 
159    191,  220f.,  244f.,  277. 

Samuel  2nd.  139,221,245. 

Watson  E.,  317f 

Wm.,    28n..  36,    142£.,     159,     195, 

Boies'tavem,S34    136f     143ff..  297. 
Boieses,  the,  87,  128,  139,  143. 
Bolton,  John.  274fT.,  281. 
Boniface,  28. 
Bondsmen,     200. 
Books,   V.   library. 
Boston,      12,     31,     74ff..    103,    179. 
225,  291,  324f. 
and  Albany,  v.  road, 
and  Hartford,  v.  road, 
and   Worcester,   v.   road, 
bank,     133. 
Boundary,  disputes,  5. 
Bowers,  Wm.,  299. 
Bowles,   Samuel.   34,    57,    59n  ,   60n 
Boys,  21,  99,  246ff. 
Bradley,  Geo.,   160,   174. 
James,  174. 
John,  174. 
Thomas,  174,176 
Bradley  business,  174 
Brandy,  63,  112,  188f,  227,  229. 
book,    189. 
in  the  spirit,  188. 
Brewer,  John,  92. 
Brewer.  Josiah,  82. 
Brewer  place.  75. 
Brewster,  Jonathan,  82. 

Dr.  Joseph  Wadsworth,   144. 
Bridge,     37. 

Bridlepath,  13,  18,  272. 
Brighton,     263. 
Bristol,    95. 

Bromley,  Rev.  Daniel.  20/. 
Brook,  84.  86,  177. 
Bedlam,   128. 
Birch  meadow,  47. 
Black's.  269,  280. 


Borden,  213. 
Branch,  128. 
Freeland,    271. 
North  Meadow.  98. 
Peebles',    37.  180.  213. 
Pond.  85. 
Potash,   252. 
Salmon,    314. 
Brookfield.  324. 
Brooks,    late  James   S..  10  n 
Brown,  Sarah,  Sary,  221. 
Dr.    Plumb,    172n 
Solomon,  38.  78    191    290. 
Wm..  78.   138.  224,  287. 
Brown  lot,   138. 
Bruce,  Ebenezer,  292f.,  308. 

Jesse,  292. 
Buffalo  robes,  44. 
Bull,  James,  80. 

Joseph.    153,    173,    190f.,   2  31. 
Samuel,  196. 
Bunnel,  Bunnell,  Enos,  193. 
Moses  A..  172. 
Moses  and  Enos,   \U. 
Bunnell's,  231. 
Burgoyne,  34,  75,  »»• 
Burlington,  95.  a     to     T\  M 

Burying-yard,    -ground,   32,    7.}.  »*. 

104    116,  223,  274,  195. 
Butler   Rev.  Daniel.    47.203   247  f.. 

312fl. 
Butler  family.  203. 
house,  205.  210. 
Button.  Perry.  230. 

Cables.  Jared.  Jerod    129.  308,  316. 
Caldwell,   J ames     1 7  7t 
Campbell,  Campbl,  Widow,  182. 
Campbell  lane,    181. 
Cannon,  Carnahan, 
Martin,   193. 
Robert,  197. 

Samuel,   24,    133.    135.   221. 
Stephen,   197. 
William,    126,    128,   223. 
Cannon  farm,  171. 
Canton,   95. 
Card,  D.,  204. 
Card-board  maker,  165. 
Carr,  v.  Kar 
Carriage,   258f..   262. 
Cart,  261f. 
Catamount,    300ff. 

Sdlar'holeN,   17,69,130,185,  211 

229. 
Cemetery.  89.99,  2  lOf 
Century  dictionary.   240. 
Chair.    262. 
Chaise.  260f. 
Chapin.  Chester  W.,  319 

Chapman.  Benjamin,   iw. 

Chief  Justice.  59. 

Lewis.  319. 
Chariot.  258. 
Chelsea.  13. 
Chester.   198.  321.  326. 
Chesterfield.     159. 


Chicago,  66. 
Child  sworn,   196. 
Children,  v.  boys,  girls. 
Christmas,  305. 

Church,   4     102f,     116,  246,   250. 
American,     122. 
discipline,   157,  303flf. 
members,    238. 

V.  minister,  meeting-house,  etc. 
Churches   of    Hartford,    315. 
Cider,  cyder,  Sider,  23,  39,  112,  120. 

188,   226ff,     283. 
City  of  Homes,  215. 
Civil,    claim,    203ff. 

War,     250. 
Clapp,  Parsons,  156. 
Clark,    Chester,    197. 

Joseph,  12f. 
Clarke,  Rev.  Dorus,  158,   172,  247fl. 
260. 
Mrs.     260. 
Clerk,  as  title,  241. 

of  town,  V.  town  clerk. 
Clock-maker,    165. 
Clothier,    283. 

Coach,  258,  v.  Stage,  stage-coach. 
Cochran,  Cornelius,  217. 
Glass,    222. 
John,   22 If. 
John,   Jr.,    193. 
Cochran  house,  271f.,  281,  284f. 

pond,   V.   pond. 
Coe,  Oliver,  287. 
Collector,    259. 

of  taxes,   37,  259. 
College,    45. 
Harvard,    57. 
Oberlin,    120. 
Robert,    118. 
Whitman,  133,  249. 
Williams,  247fl.,  288. 
Yale,  40,   122,   186. 
Collester,  John,   123. 
Collins,   David,  Jr.,    160. 

Amos  M.,  173,  246. 
Colonial  Dames,  229. 
Committee,  of  inspection  and  safety 
35. 
on  pulpit  supply,  36. 
to   seat   meeting-house,     v.    inn- 
holder. 
Common,  v.  ten-acre  lot. 
Commonwealth,    13,    18,   278. 
Concord,   36. 
Congress,    55n.,    250. 
Connecticut,  5,  27,  257,  318. 
river,  9,  289. 
State,  156,  203,  212,  312. 
valley,    42,    131. 
Continental  road,  v.  road. 
Cook,    Prentice    B.,    161. 
Cooks,  the,  282. 
Cordwainer,  240. 
Corner  tavern,  v.  tavern. 
Council,  ecclesiastical,  22,  24,  38. 
Counterfeiting,    196. 


County,. 

commissioners,   88. 
road,  V.  road. 
Court,  Beech  Hill,  chap.  VII. 
of  common  pleas,  41,    160. 
General,  5,  7,  9,   11,   14,  74,    108. 

188,  256. 
of  general  sessions.  8,  9,  21. 
Supreme  Judicial.   202. 
Crawford,  Joseph,  193. 
Crawford,    Mary    Caroline,    29. 
Criminal   docket,    188. 

suit,   191fTf. 
Crocker,  Ebenezer,  290. 
Crooks,    John,    284. 

Wm.,  221. 
Crosby,  Rev.  Aaron,   141. 

Logan,   160,  282. 
Culver,  Asa,  90. 
Curricle,  262. 
Curse,    198. 

D 
Daughters      of      American      Revo- 
lution,   229. 
Day,  Plin,  283. 

Samuel,   65. 
Days,  the,  282. 
Dayton,  Giles,  231,  252. 
Deacon,    103. 

Blair,  103,  128,  142. 
r  Boies,    142f.,   220. 
'■''  Gibbs,  V.  Ephraim,  Israel. 
7"  Knox,  69. 
P^' Lloyd,    207. 
Dearing  place,  94n. 
Deer   warden,    2 1 . 
Delehanty,  Mrs,  lOln. 
Delirium  tremens,  228. 
Devil's   half-acre,    181,    204ff.,    212, 

214f. 
Dexter,  W.  H,,  11  In. 
Distiller,    12,    188. 
Disturbing  an  assembly,  205. 
Docket,    123,    188ff. 
Doctor,      V.      Joseph      Wadsworth 
Brewster,    Joseph    B.    Elmore. 
Eli   Hall,    Robert   King,    Nath- 
aniel    Little,     Thomas     Lucas, 
John  White. 
"Dolls,  1200."  296. 
Donaghy,  Wm.,   131. 
Doolittle,    Philemon,    280f. 

Titus,     279f. 
Douglas.  John  B. 
John    S.,    251. 
Stephen  A.,  59f. 
Dray,   84. 

Drinking  habits,   v.   tavern. 
Drunkeness.  119,  v.  Tavern. 
Dunlap,  Edward,   148n. 
Dwight,  James  Scott,   156. 
Jonathan,    150,   156. 
Pres.  Timothy,  40,  44,  94257. 
E 
Earle,  Mrs.  Alice  Morse,  44,  112,310. 
East  part,  2811?. 
Eells,  Cushing,  133,  249. 
Joseph,   133i.,  249. 


Eells  hill,   134. 

home,    134. 
Egremont,    71. 
Elder.    142f.,   .303. 
Elevations.  84ff  .  95.  l^^- 
Elmore,  Dr.  Joseph.,  156.  172,  199. 
Ely.  Caleb.  22S. 

Emerson.  Charles  Chauncy.   57. 
Emigration.  261.  323t  . 
EnfiSd.  Conn..  28.  267,  324. 
England,   112.  .^. 

Episcopal,  society.  143    145,  1/5. 
Epitaph,    139.   223.   294. 
Esquire.   241. 
Europe,  122. 
Excise,  8,  12. 
Execution,  papers,  1»9. 
sale.  139,  156,  230£E. 
V.  sheriff.  _ 

F 
Fairchild,  Pres.,  161- 
Falley's  cross-roads,  ^/5,  on. 

store,  299. 
Falls  road,  v.  road. 
Falstaff,  229. 
Farmer,    188. 
Farmington.  95. 

river,   92,   95.   314. 
Farnum,  Noah  2nd,   iv-i- 
Ferguson,  John,   143. 

FieirE^'wid.  25,   113,  291.    329n 
fe  division.  71n.,.99.  127.  214.  292 
Fish,  Aaron,  194,  25 1. 
Fisher,  Sydney  George.  219. 
Flip.  39,   112. 
Flood,  319£. 
FoUet,  John,    152. 
Foreclosure,   101.   109. 
Foreigner.  284. 
Forgery.  196. 
Fort.    144.  „„, 

George,  76,  78,  223. 
at  Pixley's,  10.       ^.        ,         „ 
Ticonderoga,    v.    Ticonderoga. 
Foye,  John   290. 
Franklin,  Benj..   122.   219. 
Frary    Jno.   37 
Frary  s  mills,  37.  zi5. 
Freeland.  James,  224n. 
Freeman,  238. 
Frost.  David.  209. 
G 
Gagehorough.  15. 
Gate-hou.se.  255. 

General  Assembly.  H artford    29 . 
Gentleman,   18,   188,  240ff..  282. 
Gibbs.  Abner.  290. 

Ephraim.  245.  290.  297. 
Isaac,  13Sf..  140,  287. 
Israel.  24.     135.   141,  271. 
John,    134,    141. 
Lyman,  217. 
Samuel,    138.   217 
Wm    H.,  9,  23,  83.  228.  246.  253, 
287. 


Gibbs  families  297. 
Glasgow.  Scotland,  69. 
G  Slow    Glasgo,  Glascow  Glasgow 
lands.  New  Glasgow,  etc.,  2,  5.. 
9    10,  13f.,  20fE.,  239. 
hall,   169n.,   175n 
mountain,   77,   79,   2 /v. 
Goodell  Jabez,   62. 
Gore,   Mr.,    56 
Gore,    the     127ff.,  253f. 
Granby.    Conn..    318.    321. 
Grand  jury,  jurors.  7,5. 

rraSe.'lI,-95.  186f..l93ff.,212, 

318,    321. 
East,  313,  321. 
Middle,  32  If. 
West,  85n.,.  132. 
Great  Barrington,   15,  70,  77.  79 1., 
84,    129. 
v.  road. 
Britain,  257. 

^'rooS^lTro'll,  79,  98.  288. 
301. 
V.  road. 
Greylock,  288. 
Griffin,  Wm.,   195. 
Griswold's  mill,  314. 

H 
Hadley,    121.     . 
Haley,  Nathaniel,  194. 
Half-way  house,  16 
Hall,  Dr.  Eli,  175,  246. 
Luke,   175.    . 
Luke  Hall  s  inn,  175. 
Hamilton,  Agnes,  178. 
Armour,    178. 
Francis,  96. 
John,   28n. 
Marv,  224n. 
Robert,  224n. 
Widow,  177f. 
Hamlin,  Rev.  Cyrus,  118. 
Hampden,  Co.,  258. 
Hampshire,  county,   8,   56,   73,   Hi, 
124.     198.       ^^    _ 
Gazette,  34n.,  54nff. 
Hancock,  29,  267. 
Hannon,  Wm., 
Harding     Isaac,    . 
Harrington,   Hernnton,   264. 
Harris.  Benjamin,  211. 
Harrison,  Horace,  193. 
Harroun.  Herren,  David  .290ff..  308 
Hartford,  31.  97.  148.  312.  319.  32in 

V.  road. 
Hartland.   95. 
Hastings.  Rev.  H- L    228. 
Hatch,  Timothy,  .^6,  HSff..  162.  16/ , 
170.  184.  244f.,  251. 
Timothy  L..   153ff. 
Hatches,  the.  ''2.  lf>7.  231. 
Hatch,  house,  1^6    17  2. 

tavern.  165n.,  170.  172. 
Hatter.  152,  28,V 
Hatter's  shop.   I50f..   153,   156. 
Hayden,  Elias.   191. 


Hazzaxd,  James,  133.  244. 

Margaret,    225. 

Robert,    224. 
Hazzard  pond,   133. 
Heath,  Gen.,   79. 
Henry,  James,   123ff. 

Jonas,  272f. 

Myron  E.,  7  In. 

Robert,  26n.,  85f.,  104. 
Herren,   v.   Harroun, 
Herrick,   H.   K.,   181n. 
Herrinton,    v.    Harrington. 
Hewson,   v.    Huston. 
Highway  commission, 

V.  county,  and  road. 
Higgins,  Mrs.  L.  W.,  26Sn. 
Hillard,  Geo.   H.,   58. 
Hills.    Joseph,    123. 
Hinds,   Henry,    194. 
Hinsdale,  15,  32n.,  321f. 
Hobbs,  John,   224n. 
Holland,  J.  G.,  14n.,  299. 
Home-lots,      21,      32,      69n.,      98f . 
103f.,    Ill,   127,    132,    135,    148, 
152,  184,    214,   269,   286. 
Honey,   107. 
Hopcsby,    Samuel,    251. 
Hopkinton,   20,   217,   239f. 
Horn,  driver's,  308. 
Horseback,   5,   102f.,   144,  260,  266. 
Hosier,  47. 

Housatunnack,     Houssatanick, 
Housatonic  etc.,  6,  9,  15,  22. 

V.  road  and  Tunock. 
Householder,    225. 
Housewright,  240. 
How,  Margaret,  221. 
Howe,  Ephraim,  287. 
Hudson  river,  34,  79. 
Huntington,  269ff. 
Husbandman,  239f. 
Huston,  John,  20f.,  25. 

Mr.,  23f. 

Robert,    21,  25,  26n.,  32n.,238. 

Wm.,  21,  25. 
Hustons,  the,  2Sf. 
Hutchin's  almanac,    15. 

I 
Indians,  118,  130,  223. 
Ingersoll,   David,    11. 
Inn,  V.  tavern. 
Innholder, 

as  blacksmith,  28,   114. 

as  business  man,  25,  95,  103f.,  106, 
141,    147,    151. 

as  candidate  for  rank,  243ff. 

as   committee   of   inspection   and 
safety,  35,   106. 

as  committee  on  pulpit  supply,  35. 

as  committee  on  roads,  82. 

as    committee    to    seat    meeting- 
house,  27,  36,    141,   151. 

as  constable,   224,  278. 

credentials  of,  41. 

as  deacon,  v.  deacon. 

as  farmer,   53. 

as  gentleman,  123,  244. 

library  of,  46,  47. 


Inholder,  Continued 

as  militia  officer,   123,  150. 

as   moderator  of   town   meeting, 
28,  35,   106,  140,  150. 

as  politician,  v.  Tavern. 

as   postmaster,    151. 

seat  of,  in  meeting-house,  245. 

as  selectman,  25,  28,  35,  73,   102, 
106,    140,    150. 

as  sexton,   36,    100. 

3.S  squire,  123,  244. 

Stowe,  squire,  313. 

traditional  career  of,  35,  61. 

v.   also  under  Almy,   Job, 

Ashmun,  Justus;  Keziah, 

Alvord,  Enos, 

Baird,  James;  James,  Jr., 

Barber,    Matt., 

Blair,  Robert;  Robert,  Jr.,  Rufus. 

Boies,     Samuel;     Samuel     2nd; 
Reuben;    Wm., 

Bruce,   Ebenezer;   Jesse, 

Clark,  Joseph, 

Day,  Plin, 

Douglas,  John  S., 

Goodell,  Jabez, 

Hall,  Luke 

Hamilton,  Agnes;  Armour, 

Harding,  Isaac, 

Harroun,  Herren,  David, 

Hatch,    Timothy, 

Henry,  Jonas. 

Huston,    John;    Robert;    Wm., 

Knox,   John, 

Laflin,   Luther, 

Lamb,    Eliphalet, 

Lloyd,    Issac;   John;   Sergius   W., 

Loomis,    Justin, 

Noble,  Solomon, 

Parks,   Roger;  Warham, 

Pease,    Abner;    Levi;    Nathaniel, 

Pixley,    Joseph,    Jr., 

Porter    Samuel,    bbD., 

Reece, 

Root,  Hewet, 

Scott,  Benjamin,  Margaret, 

Sheldon,    Elisha   Buck, 

Slocum,     Eleazer, 

Sloper,    Samuel, 

Smith,    Asa, 

Stebbins,  Gad, 

Stewart,  Samuel, 

Taggart,    Nathaniel, 

Watkins,    Russel, 
Intem.perance,   122,   15Sff. 
Inventory,  of  Justus  Ashmun,  45f., 
50ff. 

Armour  Hamilton,  179. 

Samuel  Sloper,  108. 
Ireland,  87,  225. 
Irish,    227. 
Irishman,    102. 
Itinerary,    15,   70,   288,   321f. 

Jackson,  Ezra,  217. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  122. 
Jerod  bars,  129. 
Johnson,  Capt.  John,  78. 
Jonas,     124. 


Johonnot,  Zechariah,  12. 

Judge,  V.  Justice,  squire,  court,  etc. 

Julian,  N.  C,  lOn. 

July  4,  20S,  266. 

Justice  of  the  peace,  36,  124,  160. 

K 
Kar,  Karr,  Ker,  Carr,  etc. 
Eleanor,   222f. 
James,   222. 
Katherine,  Jr.,   222. 
Widow  Katherine,  222f. 
Wm.,    222f.,    240. 
Kattlen,  Mr.,  27,   104. 
Keep,   Mrs.,    161f. 

Rev.  John,   120f.,  149,   1S9,  161f., 
172,  175,  226,  246,  260. 
Kennedy,    Elsenezer,    193. 

Henry,    194. 
Kinderhook,  16,  71,  77,  222. 
King,  James,  196. 
John,    124. 
Dr.  Robert,   176.   181. 
Kittredge,  Geo.    Lyman,   235n. 
Knox,   70. 

Knox,  Adam,  69,  71. 
Alanson,   63,   160. 
Curtis,  196. 
David,    115. 
Elijah,  48,  69n. 
Gen.  Henry,  74,  76,  78,  279. 
John,  28n.,  69,  and  n.,  159,  277 
Samuel,  S5n.,  65f.,  117,  13Sn.,  249 

292. 
Titus,'  197. 
Wm.,    36,    39,    48,    69,    159,,    275, 

277,  283. 
Wm.,    Jr.,    149. 
Knoxes,  the,  282. 
Knowlton,   I.   W.,   251. 
Jared,   196. 
Wm.,    196. 

L 
Laflin,  Luther,  139,  174,  255. 
Laflin  elm,  174. 
Lake  George,  78. 
Lamb,  Eliphalet,    251. 
Land   allotment,    219. 
Land  grant,  6ff. 
Land  ownership,  5,  237f. 
Landlord,  v.  innholder,  tavern 
Lathrop,  Thos,,   110. 
Law,  Royall  professor  of,  5  7. 
Law  school,  57. 
Lawlessness,  206. 
Lawton,  C.  J.,  6ff.,  20. 
Lawyer,  SSff.,  62. 
Lebanon,  267. 

Ledger,  Sloper's,  29,  105,  109,  113. 
Lee,  Rev.  J.,  209. 

town  of,   252,  266. 

Legislature,  6,  Uff.,  18,  56,  59,  79. 

committee  of,    39. 

V.  General  Court. 

Lenox,  17,  95,  266.  278. 

Leonard,  Heman,  191. 

Martin,  Co.,   115. 
Libel,  204. 
Library,   47f.,    50. 


License,  9,  12,  20,  39,  41,  47,  64,  70 
72,  85f.,  100,  103,  105,  133,  137 
139,   145,   173. 

V.  Innholder,  Retailer,  Tavern. 
Lilacs,    2. 
Lime,   263. 

Lincoln,  Pres.,  55n.,     59,  250. 
Liquor,   amount  sold,    112f.,    120. 
Liquor  habit,  v.  tavern. 
Little,  Dr.  Chas.  H.,  144,  231. 

Nathaniel  P.,  173,  176. 
Little  river,  72,   128,   180,  212f. 
Lloyd,  Loyd,  Loughead,  etc., 

Alexander,    204f. 

Isaac,  61,  63,  90,  139. 

James,  195. 

James  2nd,  195. 

John,    190,    194,    208,  21  If.,    216, 
224n. 

John  Lloyd  tavern,  316. 

Mary,    224n. 

Rachel,  96. 

Robert  159    207,  209,  212,  214. 

Sergius  W.,  61. 

Wm.,  90,  213. 
Lloyds,  the,  204. 
Log  house,  26,  186. 
Lombardy  poplars.  2,  206. 
Long    pond,    v.    pond. 
Longmeadow,  260. 
Loomis,    Lumus, 

Amos,    134n. 

Enos.    lis. 

James,    290. 

Justin,  64. 
Lord's  day,  193,  275,  303ff. 
Lottery,  80f. 

Louden,   38,   74f.,   93,   95.    115,   221. 
Lumberman,    188. 
Lucas,  Thos.,  293. 
Lumus,  V.  Loomis. 
Lyman,   Asahel,    190f. 
Lyman  and  Collins,  173f. 

M 
Mack,   David,   272. 
Mail,  U.  S.,  317fl.,  v.  Stage,  Road. 
Mansion  house,   26,    135,    140.    144, 

290. 
Mark,  his,  241. 

Marshal,    Jonas    Nut    Dwight,    150. 
Massachusetts,   5,  35,  41f.,  95,  218, 
227,   248,   257. 

Western,  22,  75n.,  257,  318. 
McClenachan,  Rev.  Wm.,  11. 
McConoughey,     David,     28n.,     37, 

130f. 
McKinstry,  Jenny,  Jinny,  224f. 

John,  224f. 

John,  Jr.,  224. 
McMurag,    Geo.,    222. 
Meeting-house,  20f.,   27,  33,   72,  82, 
89,  98ff.,   104,    117,  124f.,  131f. 
140f.,   144,   171,    177.    182,    187. 
214,  217.  289. 

and  tavern,  v.  tavern. 
Merchant,  61,    172,  244. 
Merit,  Asa,  48. 
Merphy,  v.  Murphy. 


Methodism,  Mass.'  207,  231. 
Methodist   Episcopal,  church,  32n., 
160,  207ff.,   214. 

conference,  208. 

meetings,  205fiE. 
Middlefteld,    15,   321. 
Middletown,   190. 
Mill,104,  128,  181,  217,  283. 

V.  saw-mill. 
Military  duty,    117ff. 

parade,    117ff.,    144. 
*■•'  titles,  120,  150,  166,  241. 
Militia,    120ff. 
Miner  house,  264. 
Minister,  18,  26,  114,  235,  257. 

first,   llff.,   15. 

V.  Joseph  Badger. 

Daniel  Bromley. 

Daniel  Butler. 

Dorus    Clarke. 

Aaron  Crosby. 

H.  L.  Hastings. 

John  Keep. 

J.  Lee. 

Wm.   McClenachan. 

James  Morton. 

Joseph  Patrick. 

Jedediah  Smith,  the  elder. 
Minor,    Cyrus,    197. 
Missouri,   5Sn.,   250. 
Mitchel,  Wm,   159.  284,  293. 
Mixer,  274. 
Moderator  of  town  meeting,  v.  inn- 

holder. 
Monterey,    7  5 . 
Montgomery,  James,   177,   ISOf. 

Robert,   177,   180f. 

Wm.,    48. 

town    200. 
Moor,   Moore,  James,  91. 

Jefferson,   21  In. 

President,    247. 

Thomas,    194. 
Moral  state  of  country,  121,  226ff. 
Morgan,  Simeon,  202,  231. 
Mortgage,    149,    156,   230ff.,   244. 
"Mortal  Fuddy",  102. 
Morton,   Mrs.   Elizabeth  H.,   34n. 

Rev.  James,  22.  24,  26n.,  32,  74. 
85f..  103f.,  173n.,  176ff.,  182, 
188,   228f.,   293. 

Wido,    Widow,    245. 
Mountain  house,    19n. 
Mt.  Gomery,  v.  Montgomery. 
Murphy.   Merphy, 

Daniel,  222 

Edward,  222. 

Eleanor,    222. 

Frederick,    fradrach,    222ff. 
Murrayfield.  108,  25 In.,    274. 

N 
Natchez,     186. 
New  Connecticut,  325. 
New  England,  4,  20,  28,  31,  40ff.,  1 1 1 
113,    218f.,    226,    236f.,   24011. 
255,   278. 

development  of,  236,  311. 


Historical  and  Genealogical  Reg- 
ister, 76n. 

town,   187,  237,  310. 

travel,   94,   310ff. 
New  E;nglanders,  187.  226,  236. 
New  Glasgow,  v.  Glasgow. 
New  Hampshire,  41,  288. 
New  Hartford,  95. 
New  Haven,  318. 
New  Orleans,  268. 
New  York,  35,  218,  325. 
Newbury,  Roger,  22. 
Newspaper  privilege,  321. 
"Nigger  hill",   129. 
Nine  Partners   222. 
Noble,  (Capt.)  John,  160,  213,  258f., 
301f.,  311. 

Silas,  213. 

Solomon,  48,  111,  152,  155f.,  164. 
170f.,   193,  231,  244,  259. 
Noble's  Tavern,    170,    172. 
Noble  hill,  75,  92,  114. 
Nobletown,  16,     71. 
North  Blandford,  85,  89,   127,    129. 
217,    252,    254,    264,    268,    289. 
299,   319. 
North  Bloomfield,  314n. 
North  end,  98;  chap.  11. 
North  Granby,  314n.,  321. 
North  meadow,   315. 
North   meadow  brook,   v.   brook. 
North  meadow  pond,  v.  pond. 
North  street,  v.  Road. 
Northboro,  324. 

Northampton,    9,    21,    56,    58,    200, 
222,   295. 

Northwest  Territory,   325. 
Norton,  82. 
Norton  and  Ely,  264. 
Norwich,  108,  198. 

Bridge,    273. 
Number  One,  town,  15.  77,  83,  86, 
93. 

Two,  15. 

Three,    15. 

Four,  IS,  98,  286. 

Three,  farm-lot,  254. 
Nutt,  Wm.,  217. 
Nye,  James  P.,  128n. 

L.  C.  and  Son,  178n. 

Randall,    282. 

O 
Oath,  v.  swearing. 
Ohio,    116,    176. 
OUj  Northwesf,  116. 
"Old  Rorum,"  155. 
"Old   whips",   317. 
Orchard,    172,   226f. 
Ordination,  246ff. 

Joseph  Badger. 

Dorus  Clarke. 

John  Keep. 

James  Morton. 
Osborn,   Osborne.   Osburn. 

Alexander.    240. 

John.  238. 

Mr.,  48. 
Osborne  place.  180n. 


Osbornes,  the,   128. 
Otis,  38n.,  76,  127. 

East,  84,  94. 

Harrison  Gray,  56. 

Paine,  Tom,  122. 
FS:n7!l23,130,171,184. 
Parker.  Jacob,   224n. 
Parks,   Elisha,   26n.,    13». 

Lewis,   169n. 

Reuben,   191. 

?vTham,''36f.,    82.     135,     137ff. 
244,  282. 

Warren,    302 
Parks  homestead,   28^. 
Parkses,  the,  137,  282. 

ParlOT^^v    tavern  appointments  etc 
Parsons,    Seth,    123f. 
Parsonage,   149,   155,   1/2,   174. 
Parties  267. 
Partridgefield,    15. 
Patrick,  Rev.  Joseph,  99. 
Pauperism,   218. 
Peasantry,  237. 

^Tbne?.^?3.3^t'lOO:,231.244. 

Mr.,   104. 

Nathaniel,  27.  32n.,  244. 
Robert,  32f.,  100. 
Pease's  33,   100    103. 
Pease  farm,  26t.,  I4»t. 

mill,   217. 
Peddler,    265 
Peebles,  Archibald,   202. 
Eunice,      200. 
Francis,    201f. 
Harvey,     199ff. 
Jenny,    Janny,    204. 
Joel,   202. 
John,  201{. 
Rufus,  202. 
S.   H.,   69n. 
Peebles'  mill,   191,  215. 
Pelham,  28,  30n. 
Pelton,  Thomas,  194. 

Stephen.  .96. 
Pennsylvania,  32b. 
Perkins,  Wm.,  196. 
Peru,   IS.    ^ 
Peterson,  Wm.,  224n., 
Phelps.  Grace.  224n. 
John,  197. 
Mary,  222. 
Philip,  205. 
Samuel  222. 
Susanna,  Jr.,  222. 
Widow  Susanna,   222. 
Phelpses,  the,  282. 
Physician,  v.  Doctor. 

V&n^^'^'^^.    no.    173. 

185. 
Pitching,  coins,   312. 


Pittsfield,  22,  95,  132,  266.  286. 
Pixley,   Joseph,   Jr.. 

Chap.  I;  26. 
Pixley's,  73,  91 
Pixley  s  farm,  Chap.i,  9.5. 
PlaintiflE,   190fl.     , 
"Plunket,  Squire   ,  233. 

Politics.  V.  innholder  and  tavern. 
Pond 

Blair,  92f.,  211. 
Cochran,   270fl. 
Hazzard,  133. 
Long,  85 

North  meadow,   85. 
Second  division,  270. 
Twenty-mile,    91. 
Pontusuc,   22,   98.   286. 
Population,   232 

Porter,  estate  of  Mrs    J.  fa.,   128n 
Porter,    Samuel,    167fi. 
Porter's  inn,  168. 
Post  office,  64,  187. 
rider,  16. 

road,  16,  18,  69,  94. 
route,    15,    252ff. 
Postal  star  route,   17. 
Postmaster,   General,    .51/. 
Potash   works,    150f. 
Pound,   130,   144,   184. 
Powder,  291. 
Presbyterian,   207 

Presbyterianism,   Scotch,   209,    218. 
Presbytery,    104. 
Prisoner,   88,   202,   277 
Proprietor,  5f.,  18.  37    84,  127,  166. 
Prosecution,   62,    19m. 
Prospect  hill,    144. 
Provin,  Provan,  James,   isi- 
Widow  Mercy,    181. 
Wm..  177.  f. 

Province,   of  Mass.   Bay,    7f.,    Utt.. 

74,    225. 
Province  tax,  27  5fi. 
Pulpit,   104. 
Pung,    310. 
"Pun'kin  ,   107. 
Pxu-itan,  23 7n. 
V    New  England. 

g 

Quebec.  70. 

Quimby.  Irving  A.,  I55n. 

Railroad.    3.    65.    145,    253fr.,    261. 
273,  309,  325ff. 
station,  274. 
Redfield,  Frederick  J.,  190. 

Reform,  v.  temperance. 
Reporter,     226. 

IX^Tnm..  85,    103,  105,    126 
HOff     147,  150.  166f..l72,  174f. 
131,  230,  290. 
V.  under  Almy,  Job, 
176  Attwater,  John  and  Russeu, 

Baird,    James, 
Barnes.  Linus  B.. 


Retailer,  Continued 

Blair,  Matt., 

Blair,    Samuel, 

Bull,  Joseph, 

Bunnell,    Moses   A., 

Eells,    Joseph, 

Gibbs,  Ephraim, 

Gibbs,  John, 

Gibbs,    Lyman, 

Hall,  Eli, 

Hannon,   Wm., 

Hatch,   Timothy, 

Hazzard,   James, 

Knox,  John, 

Knox,  Wm., 

Knowlton.I.  W.,!'? 

Laflin,  Luther, 

Montgomery,  Robert, 

Parks,  Roger, 

Parks,  Warham, 

Pease,   Nathaniel, 

Sage,  Orrin,   Oren, 

Shepard,   Noah,   bb., 

Sinnet,    James, 

Sloper,  Samuel, 

Smith,   Jedediah, 

Stewart,    Wm., 

Sylvester,   Fordyce, 

Wales,  Henry, 

Wallace,  Wallis,  James, 

Waterman,   Robert, 

Watson,   John, 

Whitney,  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
Revolution,      Revolutionary,      etc., 
31,   45,   68,   75,   85f.,   91,    105f., 
114.    117,    119,    126,    147,    243, 
289,   304. 
Rhode  Islander,   257. 
Rice,    Josiah,    240. 
Richards,  Davis  E.,   123ff. 
Rickley's,  91. 
Riley,   J.    Whitcomb,    300. 
Ripley    house,    210. 
Ripley,   Roscoe,    136. 
Road, 

Abandoned,  1,  3,  17,  69,  128,  135n. 
281. 

Albany,   IS,   68,    147ff.,    154,    184. 

Berkshire,  83,  128,  182,  211,  252, 
287,  Appendix  IIL 

between     first     and     second     di- 
visions, 177. 

between    Hampshire    and    Berk- 
shire counties.  Chap.   IV.,  209. 

Blandfrod   to   Becket,    140,    183, 
299. 

East  Granville,  154,  163,  213. 

Blandford   to  Green-woods  road, 
68,  82,   129,   144. 

Huntington,    280. 

No.   Four,    184. 

Northampton.   136,  271,  274. 

Pittsfield,     299. 

West  Granville,    173. 

Birch  hill,   213. 

Boston  and  Albany,  135,  254,  326 

Boston  to  meeting-house  in  Bland- 
ford,    183. 


Continental,  298 
Road — Continued. 

County,  68,  98,  129,  131,  140,  144, 
180.  183,  209,  213. 

from  Granville  to  Blandford 
and  Blandford  to  Granville 
again,     214. 

from  meeting-house  in  Middle 
Granville  to  meeting-house  in 
Blandford,  215 

from  Russell  to  Blandford,  Ap- 
pendix  II. 

from  Wellers  mills  to  County  road 
in   Blandford,   284. 

Falley's  cross-roads,   v.   Falley. 

Falls,  177. 

Gore  road,  or  lane,  144,  171,  253. 

Government,    298. 

Granville  to  Blandford,  165,   180. 

Great,    14,   98. 

Great,  from  Blandford  to  West- 
field,    183. 

Great  Barrington,  68. 

Hartford  and  Albany,   94. 

old   Hartford  route,   318. 

Housatonic,  7,  14,  19,  32n.,  68,  82. 

importance  of.    If. 

Lenox   to    Becket,    272. 

to  Lee,  2S2f. 

Loudon  to  Granville,  94. 

middle,    82. 

to  mill,    176,   181. 

Murrayfield  to  Blandford,  274, 
280. 

North  Blandford,  253. 

Old  town,  99,  183,  210. 

Otis,  94. 

Pittsfield  and  Albany  to  West- 
field,  280. 

rival,  81. 

river,  299. 

Russell,   32n.,   55n. 

Russell  to  Blandford,  Appendix  II 

Sanderson  hill,   297. 

Second  division  (road  or  street) 
149f.   154,  163,  293,  270. 

Sheffield,  32n.,  68,  83. 

Skunk,  215n. 

Smith,  297. 

South  (road  or  street)  82.  213, 
259. 

Springfield  to  Albany,   287. 

Step  hill,  89. 

to  Stockbridge,  68. 

Stony  gutter,  281. 

Sunset  rock,    154. 

Westfield  to  Albany,  7,  14. 

Westfield  to  Blandford  meeting- 
house,  163. 

Westfield    to   Great   Barrington, 
79f.,    149. 

Westfield  mountain  to  Blandford, 
83. 

Westfield    to   Partridgefield,    273. 

Town,  132, 

V.   Appendix  II. 
Robbins,   Benjamin,   W.,      196. 

John,  149,  163. 


Robinson,  Charles,  194. 

Howard  P.     USn. 
Root    Eli,  82 

Hewet,   23,   26n. 

Mr.,  23. 
Ross,  Mary,  224n. 
Rowe's  wharf,  29. 
Rowley,  252. 
Rum.  12,  18,  24,38f.,  53.  109ff.,  227, 

233,  311. 
Russell, 

mountain,  69,  133. 

pond,  V.  pond. 

town,  Mass.,  133,   197,  200,   278ff 

town,  N.   Y.,    166. 
Rye,  111. 

S 

Sabbath,   40. 
Sacket's,   305. 
Saddle-bags,   31. 
Saddler's  shop,  230. 
Sage,  Orrin,  Oren,    19,   63,  64,    102, 
174,  176,  244. 

Miss,    248. 
Salmon,  304ff. 

brook,  V.  brook. 
Salt-box  house,  211,  293. 
Sambreey,  v.  Simsbury. 
Sandisfield,   15,   75. 
Saratoga,   7  7. 
Saw-mill,  104. 

School,  4,  15,  54,  66,  92,  288,  295. 
School-house,    20,    84,    93f.,     143f., 

187,  205f.,  217,   284. 
Scioto,  company,  173,  326. 

valley,    116. 
Scotch,  227. 
Scotch-Irish,    20,   28,   42,    119,    217, 

228,  241. 
Scott, 

Benjamin,  60,,  93ff.  176,  190,  209, 
231. 

Henry  W.,  61. 

John,   221. 

Widow  Margaret,  61. 
Scott's,  95,   231. 
Seating    meeting-house,     237ff.,     v. 

innholder. 
Second    division,    26n.,     7  In.,     154, 

269ff.,  293. 
Secretary  of  War,  76. 
Sedgwick,  Judge,  35,  55. 
Selectman,  22 If,.  255,  v.  innholder. 
Senate,  Mass.,  59. 

U.  S.,  56. 
Settlers,  238.  240. 
Settling  lot,  v.  home  lot. 
Shad,  304ff. 
Shaker,  253,   267. 
Sheep,  263f. 
Sheffield,  9,  14ff. 
Sheldon,  Elisha  Buck,  251. 
Shepard,  Barnard.  198, 

Eli,  217. 

Mrs.  Elisha,  173n. 

Jonathan,   16,  93. 

Mrs.  Joseph,  93. 


Noah,  111,  251. 
Thomas,  259. 
Walter,   152f.,   163. 
Widow,   152f. 
William,  111,  272. 
Sheriff,  109,  155ff.  219. 
deputy,   142,   156. 
sale,  V.  execution  sale. 
Shop,  144. 

hatter's  v.  Hatter. 
Shrewsbury,   29. 
"Shun-pike",  256f. 
Sibley,   John,    160. 
Sign  of  the  Lamb,  324. 
Sikes,  Reuben,  323f. 
Simsbury,   222,   318,   321. 
Sinnet  ,  James,  116,  133,  292. 

Margaret,  292. 
Sinnet  house,  213. 
Sinnets,  the,  292. 
Sled.  263,  310. 
Sleigh,  263. 
Sling,  233f. 
Slocum,  Slocumb,  Eleazer,  62,   142 

190f.,   231. 
Sloper,  Samuel,  Colonel,  29,  36ff.,  70, 
104ff.,  221,  227,  244,  272,  298n. 
304. 
Samuel,  Jr.,   116. 
Sloper,  house,   171. 
lot,   103. 
farm,    171. 
Smith,  Asa,  62,   142,  190,  244. 
late  A.  J.,   lOln. 
George,   204. 

Jedediah  Qr.,)   36,  47,  55,  62,  70, 
96,  109,  112,  123  f.,  chap.  VII;, 
227,  235,  244f.,  260,  298n. 
the  elder,   186. 
account  book  of,  188. 
Smiths,  the,  204. 

Social      stratifications,      236ff.,      v. 
husbandman,    yeoman,    gentle- 
man,    squire,     military     titles, 
seating  meeting-house  etc. 
Soldier,  12.  18,  26,  39,  7  5,  106f..  117. 
Somers,  32,   100,  323. 
Sons  of  American  Revolution,  229. 
South  street,  v.  road. 
Spanish  milled   dollar,    312. 
Speaker,    Mass.    Legislature,   59. 
Spirits,    ardent,    v.    brandy,    cider, 
flip,   rum,   sling,   whiskey,   etc. 
Spoonville,   314n. 

Springfield,   6,    15,    17,   59,   70,   76f., 
142,    150,    208,    213,    224,    228, 
235.  267,276,  278,  312,  324. 
Republican,   34,    58n.,    59n,   60n., 
255,   317ff. 
Squire,  241ff. 
Squire,  Orrin,  D.,  205. 
Stage,  16,  31,  40,  63,  66,  70,  97,  135, 
145,      253,     263,     265ff.,     289, 
299,  Chap.  XII. 
coaching,  40,  Chap.  XII. 
driver,  66,  216,  307. 
fare.   324f. 


Stage  Con'd 

first,    and    mail    route,    32 Iff. 
Chap.   XII. 
Stamp   act,    29. 
Stebbins,  Gad,  251. 
Steep  hill,  86,  315. 
Stephens,    Darias,    125. 
Steward,   Stewart, 
Dea.  A.  L.,  136. 
Samuel,  181. 
Walter,  286. 
William,  251. 
Stillwater,   75. 
Stockbridge,  318. 

Indians,    14. 
Stonehole,  7 1 
Stone  House,  16,  i3. 
Store,  29,  64,  95,  116,  133f.    141,  145, 
161,    165,    172f.    184.    217,    226 
283,  290. 
new,   133. 
Store  house,    32f.,    116,    217 

keeper,  106,  230. 
Stranger,  218ff. 
Strong    drink,     13,    23,    v.     Ardent 

spirits. 
Suffield,  6f.,  323. 
Suffield  Equivalent,  5,   14. 
Sulky,    144,  260,  262,  321. 
Sulphur  spring,   21  Iff.,   217. 
Sumter,  Fort,  59. 
Sunday,   100,  288,  305. 
Sunset  rock,  71,  214. 
Surveyor,  5,  7,  22,  83,  103. 
Swamp,  black  spruce,  95. 
great,   92,   94,   210. 
red  ash,  95. 

on  street,   130,   132,     144. 
Swearing,  193ff. 
Swine,   263f. 

Sylvester,   Fordvce,    159f. 
George  H.,  lS9f. 
George  H.  and  Son,   283. 


Tablet,    207. 
Taggard,  Taggart, 
Benjamin,  287. 

Nathaniel,  293ff. 

Widow  Jane,  295. 
Taggard's,  82. 
Taggart 

school,  295. 
Tailor,  taylor,  240,  268. 
Talcot  mountain,  314. 
Tanner,  240. 
Tannery  hill,  7 In.,  85. 
Tarriffville,  Tarriffeville,  314. 
Tarrothill,  252. 
Tavern,    144. 

appointments,  9,  42,  50,  87,  207f., 
293f.,  298. 

Benton's,   314. 

Carrier's  91. 

Case's,  314. 

and  church,   306. 

competive  conditions  of,  63,   101, 
134, 


Tavern  Con'd: 

corner,   Chaps.    II.    and    III;    93, 
lOOf.,    119,  126,  139.     142,  212. 

325n. 
and  court  house,  chap.   VII. 
dialogue  in,  29. 
and  drinking  habits,  38,   72,   101, 

112,  119,  154,  203,  226ff. 
fare,  42f.,  65,  209,  308ff. 
first,  6ff.,  13,  Appendix  III. 
fun  and  business  of,  75,  101     145 

176,    309ff. 
Harrington's,   264. 
Hatch,  164. 

influence  of  .  for  evil,  154,  164. 
insufficiency  of,  250. 
and  litigation,    189ff. 
log  book,  27. 
lotteries,  80f. 
Martin's,  324. 
and  meeting-house,  20f.,  100,  18-1 

245f. 
Mixer's,  274. 

as  neighborhood  resort,  39,  29 If 
North  Blandford,   264ff. 
Norton  and  Ely's,  264. 
number  of  taverns,    142,  289. 
and  ordinations,  22f. 
and    politics,    25,    3  7,    122f.    182 

216,  291f. 
provision  for  first,  6ff. 
race  of,  133ff. 
Rice's   324. 
Sacket's,  305. 

seamy   side  of,  97,  101,  192,  230ff. 
sheriff's  sales  at,   v.   sheriff,   and, 

execution  sales, 
shows,  267,  316. 
sign,   168,   171. 

social  atmosphere  of,    4f.,    10    19. 
39ff.,    50,     78,  97,     109ff.,     142. 
178f.,  216,  Chap. VIII. 
social  power  of,  2,  4,   19,  33,  88, 
116,    142,  182,    184,   Chap. VIII. 
statistcs  of,  23 Iff. 
and  store,  29,  166. 
Stowe's,  210,  215,  313. 
and      training    days.     v.    parade, 

training,   etc. 
three  taverns,    133ff. 
town    meeting    adjournments    to 

24,  38,  180. 
vendues,  v.  Vendue, 
in  war,  126,  v.  War. 
Washinj;ton's,  305. 
Wayside  (inn,  )  4,  11,  236. 
winter  business  of.  Chap.  XII. 
V.  also  innholder  etc. 
Taylor,  Benjamin,  238. 

Eldad,  74. 
Team,  80. 

Temperance,    reform,     119ff.,     15' 
231ff. 
society.  158,  23 Iff. 
Temple,  J.  H.,  30. 
Ten-acre  lot,  32,  104,  117. 
Tenant,  226. 
Thomas,  Gen.,  30. 
Lovewell,  279. 


Thompson,  Eliphalet,   116. 

Wm.,  48f.,  166. 
Thrall.  Samuel,  287. 
Threatening,   201. 
"Three  cakes,"  65. 
Ticonderoga,  74,  76,  78. 
Tithingman,   170. 
Toll,  257fF.,  299. 
Toll-gate,  255ff. 
Tolland,  94. 
Tory,       126,  186. 
Town, 

clerk,  108,  204,  225. 
Election,  183. 
house,  217. 

meeting,  20,  24,  63,  100,  123,  216. 
street,  20,  29.  69,  85  and  n.,  90, 
Chaps.  V.  and  VI,  128,  131,  270, 
286f. 
Township,  No.  1,  2,  3,  4,  v.  Number. 
Trader,  61,  142,  161,  172,  190,  244. 
Tradition,   9f.,   54,   61,   72,   94,    105, 
107,    126,    135f.,    138,    146,    165, 
183    188,    211.'    216f.    218    228, 
259,   261,    264,   283,   297f. 
Traffic,  92,  254,  299. 
Training,  v.  parade. 
Training  field,  32. 
Travel,  31,  40,  64,  77,  94,  104,  195, 

202,  219,  254,  299,  309ff. 
Tunock,  V.  Housatonic. 
Turnpike,  95,   129,  Chap.  IX..  286. 
First  Mass.,  31. 
Eleventh  Mass.,   132,  215,  286. 
Hampden    and    Berkshire,  v.  Ap- 
pendix II.  252,  279. 
of  1829,  Appendix  II. 
between  Springfield  and  Albany. 
265. 
Twenty-mile  pond,   v.   Pond. 
Tyringham,  15,  70. 
U. 
Underwood,  Duty,   195,  200f.,  308, 

316. 
Unimproved  lands,  37. 
United  States,  259,  321. 
University,  v.  College. 
Upsan,  Upson. 
Daniel,   196f. 
John  J.,  196. 
Shubael,  96. 
Upson  Farm,   171. 

V. 
Vehicle,    300,    v.    carriage,    chaise, 
chair,  chariot,  conveyance,  cur- 
ricle,    horseback,    pod,     pung, 
prairie  schooner,    sled,    sleigh, 
spring,  sulky,  wagon. 
Vendue,  37,  61.  lS9ff. 
Vermont,   288. 
Veterinary,,  115. 
Virgmian,  219. 
Visitor,  226. 

W 
Wadsworth,  commissary,  3 1 . 
Wagon,  waggon,  31.   87,    115,    121. 

258ff. 
Wales,   Henry,   251. 


Wallace,  Wallis,  James,  47f. 

Widow  Jane,  287. 
Walnut  hill,   129. 

War,  3,  10,  12,  26,  30,  39,  S5n.,  73, 
106,    109,    117,   250,   217.   290ff. 

census,    109. 
Wark,  James,  240. 
Warning  out  of  town,  219ff. 
Washington,  D.  C, 

Mass..   319,   321. 

Gen.,  74.  76,  88,  266. 

tavern,  v.  Tavern. 
Washingtonian  movement,  231. 
Waterman,   Asahel,   159. 

Robert,   251, 

Zebede,  96, 
Watson,  Miss  Electa  B.,  149n. 

James,  176. 

John,  48,  85. 

Wm.,  63,  176. 
Watson  house,  85,  93. 
Watts,  Samuel,   12f.   16. 
Wealth,  240ff. 
Weddings,  266. 
Weeden,  W.   B.  225n.  236n. 
Welch,   Agnes,   224n. 

Elizabeth,  224n. 
Well-sweep,  282. 
Weller's  mills,  279,  284. 
West,  45,   110,  326. 
West  Granby,  321. 
West  Hartford,   3l5n. 
West  India  trade,  227. 
Western,   193. 

Westfield,  6,  9,  11,  14,  69n.,  70,  75. 
78f.,  83,  98,  129,  135,  137,  141, 
160,  194,  196,  221ff.,  279,  305. 
312. 

academy,  210. 

bounds,  86. 

Little    river,    84,    213.    v.    Little 
river. 

Mountain,  77,  79,  279f.. 

River,   252. 
Westfield  River  Branches,  269ff 
Westfield  Valley,  278. 
Wheaton,  Chipman,  119. 
Wheeler,  Trueman,  82. 
Whippernung,  279. 
Whiskey,  227. 
White,  Dr.  John,  7 In.,  164. 

Vassal,   164,   165n. . 
White   House,    59. 
Whitman,  Marcus,  133,  249. 
Whitney,  Ajax,   198. 
Barnabas,  135,  196. 
Joseph,  210. 

Paul  and  Barnabas,  172. 
Wilbraham,  324. 
Wild  cat,  v.  catamount. 
Williams,  Dudley,  196. 
Williamstown,    115,   260. 
Wilson,   Willson,   James.   277. 
John,  220. 
John  G.  197. 
Samuel,  276. 
Windsor,  IS. 


Wine.  38.  Worcester.  31,  65,  324. 

cellar.  298.  Woronoco  valley,   131. 

Wintonbury,  321.  Worthington,   108. 

Wolves,  300ff.  Wyman,  69n. 
Women,  232,  243.  256,  267.  Y 

Wood,  John  Waldo.  Ill,  115.  Yeoman,  yeomanry,  61,  100.  237ff. 


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